Here’s a little secret. Most employment lawyers historically didn’t have to pay much attention to unemployment laws before COVID-19 came along. Employees would leave jobs and either get unemployment benefits or not, for various reasons. But new enhanced unemployment benefits under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act have suddenly created many … Read more
Since a 2014 reform to New York State’s Unemployment Insurance System, employees are generally not eligible to receive both severance pay and unemployment insurance at the same time. However, there are exceptions and nuances to this rule. As a result, employers sometimes have options that can affect their former employees’ receipt of New York unemployment … Read more
Are departing employees eligible for unemployment? As usual, it depends. To claim unemployment insurance benefits in New York, employees usually must be totally unemployed, yet available for and seeking work. After that, the most important factors are whether the employee has worked long enough to qualify and the reason for separation from employment. Here, we’ll … Read more