Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers have been forced to reduce employees' work schedules. Under newly-revised New York State Department of Labor rules, partial unemployment benefits will now be available to more employees working part-time.
Until now, employees were only eligible for partial unemployment benefits if they worked less than four (4) days per week, regardless of the number of hours worked on those days. Further, their weekly unemployment benefits were reduced by 25% for each day the employee worked, regardless of the number of hours worked.
The newly-revised rules provide that eligibility for partial unemployment benefits will now be based on hours actually worked over the course of a week, rather than days worked. Employees will be eligible for partial unemployment benefits so long as they work 30 hours or less per week and earn no more than $504 per week. These changes are effective for work done on or after January 18, 2021.
An employee’s weekly unemployment benefits will be reduced based on the number of hours worked each week, as follows:
- Employees that worked between 0-4 hours per week will receive their full unemployment benefits
- Employees that worked between 4-10 hours per week will receive 75% of their unemployment benefits
- Employees that worked between 11-20 hours per week will receive 50% of their unemployment benefits
- Employees that worked between 21-30 hours per week will receive 25% of their unemployment benefits
We note that because of the sudden implementation of this change from “days worked” to “hours worked,” employees certifying for unemployment benefits will still need to report their work by number of days, but the number of days will be determined by the collective hours worked each week. Specifically:
- 0-4 hours of work per week = 0 days worked
- 5-10 hours of work per week = 1 day worked
- 11-20 hours of work per week = 2 days worked
- 21-30 hours of work per week = 3 days worked
When totaling hours for the week, employees should count a maximum of 10 hours per day. For example, if an employee worked 12 hours on Monday, 3 hours on Wednesday, 4 hours on Thursday and 3 hours on Friday, the employee would calculate that they worked 20 hours (10+3+4+3), and report 2 days of work.
Employers should take note of the new eligibility requirements and procedures when scheduling employees - employers now have an increased ability to lessen the financial hardship facing many employees whose hours were reduced as a result of the pandemic without an out-of-pocket cost, while still having the flexibility to ensure they meet their business needs.
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If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact our Employment Law Practice Group Leader Amanda M. Fugazy (afugazy@egsllp.com) or the primary EGS attorney with whom you work.
