2023 New York Laws › LAB - Labor › Article 18 - Unemployment Insurance Law › Title 7 - Benefits and Claims › 591-A - Self-Employment Assistance Program.

* §  591-a.  Self-employment  assistance program. 1. The department is
hereby  authorized  and   empowered   to   establish   and   operate   a
self-employment  assistance program as authorized pursuant to subsection
(t) of section 3306 of the internal revenue code.
2. For  the  purposes  of  this  section,  the  term  "self-employment
assistance program" means a program under which:
(a)  individuals  who meet the requirements described in paragraph (c)
of this subdivision are eligible to receive  an  allowance  in  lieu  of
regular   unemployment  benefits  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  such
individuals in establishing a business and becoming self-employed;
(b) the allowance payable to individuals pursuant to paragraph (a)  of
this subdivision is payable in the same amount, at the same interval, on
the  same  terms,  and  subject  to  the  same  conditions,  as  regular
unemployment benefits and the sum  of  any  allowance  paid  under  this
section  and  regular benefits, as defined in this section, paid for any
benefit year shall not exceed the maximum  amount  of  benefits  payable
under this article, except:
** (i)  requirements  relating  to  total  unemployment, as defined in
section five hundred twenty-two of this article, availability  for  work
and  search  for  work,  as set forth in subdivision two of section five
hundred ninety-one of this title and refusal  to  accept  work,  as  set
forth  in  subdivision  two of section five hundred ninety-three of this
title, are not applicable to such individuals;
** NB Effective until the first Monday after October  1,  2024  or  30
days  after  the  commissioner of labor certifies that the department of
labor has an information technology system capable of accommodating  the
amendments in chapter 277 of 2021, whichever occurs earlier (see chapter
56 of 2024 Pt.Z-§1 for further provisions)
** (i)  requirements  relating  to  total  unemployment, as defined in
section five hundred twenty-two of this article, availability  for  work
and  search  for  work,  as set forth in subdivision two of section five
hundred ninety-one of this title and refusal  to  accept  work,  as  set
forth  in  subdivision  two of section five hundred ninety-three of this
title, are not applicable to such individuals;
** NB Effective on the first Monday after October 1, 2024 or  30  days
after  the  commissioner of labor certifies that the department of labor
has an  information  technology  system  capable  of  accommodating  the
amendments in chapter 277 of 2021, whichever occurs earlier (see chapter
56 of 2024 Pt.Z-§1 for further provisions)
** (ii) requirements relating to disqualifying income, as set forth in
section five hundred twenty-three of this article, are not applicable to
income earned from self-employment entered into by such individuals as a
result  of their participation in self-employment assistance programs as
defined in this section; and
* NB Effective until the first Monday after October 1, 2024 or 30 days
after the commissioner of labor certifies that the department  of  labor
has  an  information  technology  system  capable  of  accommodating the
amendments in chapter 277 of 2021, whichever occurs earlier (see chapter
56 of 2024 Pt.Z-§1 for further provisions)
** (ii) requirements relating to disqualifying income, as set forth in
sections five hundred  twenty-five  and  five  hundred  ninety  of  this
article,  are  not  applicable  to  income  earned  from self-employment
entered into by such individuals as a result of their  participation  in
self-employment assistance programs as defined in this section; and
* NB  Effective  on  the first Monday after October 1, 2024 or 30 days
after the commissioner of labor certifies that the department  of  labor
has  an  information  technology  system  capable  of  accommodating the

amendments in chapter 277 of 2021, whichever occurs earlier (see chapter
56 of 2024 Pt.Z-§1 for further provisions)
(iii)  such  individuals  are  considered  to  be  unemployed  for the
purposes of laws applicable to unemployment benefits, as  long  as  such
individuals meet the requirements applicable under this subdivision;
(c)  individuals  may receive the allowance described in paragraph (a)
of this subdivision if such individuals:
(i) are eligible to receive regular unemployment benefits or would  be
eligible  to receive such benefits except for the requirements set forth
in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (b) of this subdivision.  For
purposes  of  this section, regular unemployment benefits means benefits
payable under  this  article,  including  benefits  payable  to  federal
civilian  employees  and to ex-servicemen and servicewomen pursuant to 5
USC  Chapter  85,  and  benefits  authorized  to   be   used   for   the
self-employment   assistance   program  pursuant  to  the  Federal-State
Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 but excluding  additional
benefits;
(ii)   are  identified  pursuant  to  a  worker  profiling  system  as
individuals likely to exhaust regular unemployment benefits;
(iii)  are  participating  in  self-employment  assistance  activities
approved by the department and by the department of economic development
which  include  but  need  not  be  limited to entrepreneurial training,
business  counseling,  and  technical  assistance,  including  financing
assistance   for   qualified  individuals  as  appropriate,  offered  by
entrepreneurship assistance centers established pursuant to section  two
hundred  eleven of the economic development law, state university of New
York  small  business   development   centers,   programs   offered   by
community-based   organizations,  local  development  corporations,  and
boards  of  cooperative  educational  services  (BOCES)  as  established
pursuant  to  section  one  thousand nine hundred fifty of the education
law; and, unless otherwise required by federal  law  or  regulation,  no
individual shall be prohibited from or disqualified from eligibility for
the  program  if  prior  to  applying for the program, an individual has
printed business cards or has a website that is designed but not active,
and neither are being used to solicit or conduct business;
(iv) are actively engaged on a full-time basis  in  activities,  which
may  include  training,  relating to the establishment of a business and
becoming self-employed;
(v)  are  not  individuals  who  have   previously   participated   in
self-employment assistance programs pursuant to this section; and
(d)  the aggregate number of individuals receiving the allowance under
the program does not at any time exceed five percent of  the  number  of
individuals receiving regular unemployment benefits at such time.
3.  Each self-employment assistance program applicant shall provide at
a minimum, in such form  and  at  such  time  as  the  commissioner  may
prescribe, the following information:
(a) a description of the proposed self-employment;
(b)  a  description  of  such  applicant's  knowledge of experience in
self-employment or such applicant's knowledge of and experience with the
particular product to be manufactured, produced, processed,  distributed
or sold or service to be provided;
(c)  the  names  and  addresses of such applicant's previous employers
during the two years immediately preceding  the  date  of  applying  for
regular unemployment insurance benefits; and a
(d)   a   description  of  each  applicant's  work  activity  and  the
applicant's previous employer's activity at the work locations to  which
the applicant was assigned during said two year period.
4.  Among  individuals  seeking  participation  in  a  self-employment
assistance program,  the  department  shall  give  preference  to  those
individuals  who  propose businesses not likely to compete directly with
the business of any base period employer of the individual.
* NB Repealed December 7, 2025