Author	[Modern View]
Pops1532 02-17-2013 12:59:46 68.58.114.55 Report to Moderator	IIRC it goes something like this... To be eligible he USUALLY has to be laid off from his LAST employer (There are some instances where a person can quit and still draw) At that point ALL previous employers within a certain time period are on the hook. You should have already paid the unemployment insurance (tax) on the wages he was paid. The claim only affects your future UI (tax) RATE. The UI rate depends on YOUR track record as an employer, as well as the type of industry. The more people you've laid off, the higher your UI rate will be. Once you've had a claim it takes a long time for your rate to go down. Where it gets expensive is if you don't pay the UI when you're supposed to.Then they'll hit you with a big penalty. Looks like that's what happened to the OP. As far as hiring help as contractors and just giving them a 1099.....That MIGHT satisfy the state income tax and IRS folks, but the UI people have a different view of it. In IL, if the person/business issuing the 1099 has the authority to instruct the subcontractor how to do his job, they view him as an employee and not a subcontractor in MANY cases. They use different wording but that's how it is here. For every argument someone comes up with they pretty much have a regulation they can cite showing you're on the hook for the UI and penalties. Once they've hit you up for back UI taxes and penalties you can expect to hear from them for several years. [Reply]   [No Email]
ricb 02-17-2013 14:01:54 70.215.5.136 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to Pops1532, 02-17-2013 12:59:46   Just a side note we've never laid anyone off or fired anyone for that matter. All books are kept up diligently and have a Ui audit every year as all neighbor dairies have. It's not what we did or didn't do it's the way ui is set up in NY. Also comp ins is sky high as it is for all NY businesses. Why so many have left state in last 20yrs. [Reply]  [No Email]
rrlund 02-17-2013 13:09:29 207.241.137.116 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to Pops1532, 02-17-2013 12:59:46   My son worked as an independent contractor doing construction. He worked for a couple of different contractors,but they required him to go to the County Clerks Office and get a DBA (doing business as) before they would hire him. And he had to have his own liability insurance too. I don't know if that's tax law or not,but they were adamant about it. [Reply]  [No Email]
Pops1532 02-17-2013 13:12:09 68.58.114.55 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to rrlund, 02-17-2013 13:09:29   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see Probably more of a liability and workers compensation issue than UI or tax issue. [Reply]  [No Email]
rrlund 02-17-2013 13:19:07 207.241.137.116 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to Pops1532, 02-17-2013 13:12:09   Ya,I would think the workmen's comp as much as anything. I know another contractor who went entirely to that instead of payroll because they were dealing with the courts too much on issues of child support and what not. The court trying to garnishee wages. [Reply]  [No Email]
Spook 02-17-2013 18:57:56 99.29.145.250 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to rrlund, 02-17-2013 13:19:07   The big reason is that they don't have to pay the 1/2 SS they would have to for employees. The construction industry has gone to a system where they have few employees. Even the the kid sweeping the floor is a "contractor". Really they ought to make this illegal - or really enforce the existing laws. One of my neighbors was building 40 or 50 houses per year. His only employees were his wife and son. And I don't think they wre really working - he just wanted his kin to get bennies. He told me that even his subs didn't have employees, everybody was a "independent contractor". Then he didn't have to carry insurance on them, either. No unemployment insrance to worry about. [Reply]  [No Email]
Greg1959 02-17-2013 19:17:37 69.176.13.178 Report to Moderator	Re: unemployment in reply to Spook, 02-17-2013 18:57:56   I worked for a construction company like that for a couple of years. First, you went to the office to see where you were going to work for the day. Then each worker drove their own truck to the job site because you had to provide your own tools for anything you needed. We even had to pay for a Porta-Potty if we wanted one on the job site. Had to pay our own workers comp. and SS withholdings and unemployment insurance (which was silly because--who would want to pay yourself for unemployment? Staring pay was $10/hr then after the first year you went to $11/hr. The third year took you to $12/hr. and that was where the pay stopped. It wound up costing me money to work there. Buying my own tools and gas to drive all over the state. No road time pay or paying for a hotel room/food. This was during the housing boom 2005-2007. [Reply]  [No Email]