by Bill Fredmen
(New York, NY)
I was denied benefits for having quit my job with no good cause due to the fact that I did not take steps to preserve my employment prior to quitting.
The denial letter states I can re-apply once I have made five times my benefit rate (provided that I lose the subsequent employment through no fault of my own). I think I can make this amount by April through a seasonal employer for which I work only several times a year. I am not an independent contractor.
My question is: who will get billed for the subsequent claim? The seasonal employer or the previous one through whom I have made a more substantial amount of money?
Can the seasonal employer in any way contest my claim due to my work status?
Hi Bill,
The benefit amount is determined on the wages in a base period .. who pays depends on how the state charges employer accounts .. which I am not going to explain here because the research required would be specific to NY and time consuming.
What I am going to address is “seasonal employment”.
Many states allow an employer to set themselves up as “seasonal employers”. What this means to a claimant is that you can’t collect unemployment except within the season work is done, unless you worked outside the season for the employer .. An example might possibly be a concession worker for a professional sports team that went to the playoffs .. or maybe a ski resort that opened early or stayed open later than the scheduled close date for the season.
Whether the wages from the seasonal employment will satisfy NY’s disqualification .. of earning 5 times your WBA .. I don’t know .. I guess the only way you’ll know is if you try. I would, because it can’t really hurt to try.