The Unemployment Appeal Letter vs. The Unemployment Appeal Hearing

The letter is that which requests an unemployment hearing be docketed or scheduled.

Typically, in the past, the appeal section of an unemployment department would do everything within their power to docket and hear the case in 30 days to stay in compliance with federal guidelines. However, the number of appeals these days has impacted the length of time you will have to wait for the hearing in many states.

It's is extremely important to keep filing those weekly claims though. I'm sure you will want the back pay from those weeks when you win your unemployment hearing!

If you don't understand anything else about getting unemployment, please be aware that an appeal letter IS NOT the instrument to make the legal argument for benefits.

It states your disagreement with the initial determination.

K-I-S-S (keep-it-simple-stupid)

Claimant appeal letters were exactly what I made a beeline for and for all sorts of reasons.

But the #1 thing I looked for was something similar to self-disqualifying information (that's when a claimant did my job for me).

I was looking for information to assist in building the counter argument the hearing rep I assigned would then use at the unemployment hearing. I built case files, made request to the state and hooked the employer witnesses up with the rep I contracted.

The unemployment appeal hearing is the time to go all in and it's never a good idea to expose your hand any sooner than you have too unless it's a "slam dunk case" .. and experience told me .. to avoid using that phrase due to variances in hearing officers ..

I believe in playing fair at all times. But even so, under wise use of the possibilities in the laws can be used to create an advantage and even a surprise element. Especially when your opposition is over confident and fails to prepare for all the potential and inherent weaknesses in their argument.

All good hearing reps know they can get lucky because the opposition failed to prepare adequately.

Nope, no e-books here.

Each unemployment appeal case is unto itself. That is exactly why, the unemployment claims department investigates each claim .. on a case by case basis. Circumstances vary .. therefore outcomes vary.

However, when you appeal the claims department's determination to an unemployment appeal hearing, you usually have a fresh chance to reveal facts. Lower level hearings, sometimes called tribunals or commission hearings are also called FULL Fact Finder Hearings.

Start By Knowing What The Unemployment Issues Will Be.

You need to understand what your issue is and stick to relevant facts related to that issue.

If you need help figuring out your unemployment appeal issues, check the Q&A's out. I've done my best to focus the emotional stories about how people became unemployed to an issue.

This is because when you get to the unemployment hearing you don't want to be the only one that isn't focused on the issues.

Issues are on almost every piece of paper you receive from the unemployment department and they are listed on hearing notices for a reason.

Issues narrow the focus of any unemployment appeal to what the hearing officer will want you to focus on. They also provide the H.O. with jurisdiction to hear facts related to the issue.

No, this isn't legal advice .. this is what I was trained to explain to employers when they asked me questions.

If you go in emotional and start offering uncorroborated testimony about how mean your employer was to you and that isn't relative to the issue at hand .. you're not focusing and you'll probably be disappointed with the decision.

Hearing officers would rather hear factual concise testimony and see proof that backs up testimony because it makes their job easier and probably, a lot quicker. Don't forget they have to at least try to comply with federal guidelines to complete these hearings in a reasonable time frame.

Testimony without documentation, proof or corroborating testimony forces them into what is called a credibility decision.

You should seriously avoid allowing a hearing officer to be the judge of who is telling the truth whenever possible.

But, this is why employers show up with hearing reps to keep supervisors and their unsupported testimony on track.

Reps are the directors that coach the witnesses who are really just the actors in a human drama. Submitted documents which correspond to the offered testimony are the props which turn spoken words into an undisputed truth.

Unless one of the witnesses screws up and says something they weren't supposed to say during testimony.

So, you tell me, would you benefit from a professional unemployment hearing rep that can focus on the strengths of your case and the weaknesses of the employer's via an effective cross examination of your former employer?

This is one of the reasons employers use unemployment cost control.

They relied heavily upon the skills of both the lawyers and non-lawyer hearing reps I contracted for them to win even the most winnable of cases .. because so many cases did require the skill of a rep to present the case in a way that made it possible to win when they exposed what you only testified to .. without providing proof.

Yup, unemployment appeal hearings are described as being informal proceedings, but when you have thousands of dollars worth of benefits on the line at one of these hearings .. and you don't understand how unemployment works .. believe me you are immediately at a disadvantage of not being up to speed with the skill level of your opposition.

Employers experience at unemployment hearings is your competition.

That experience may well include an employee of a large cost control company or an independent hearing rep they contracted on behalf of your employer.

Last I heard, the largest cost control company handled 30 percent of all unemployment claims in this country. I believe it, I worked for it, and it was that company that inspired me.

And it's only one such company fighting to keep employers unemployment costs down.

How I Used Your Unemployment Appeal Letters Against You

It was the first thing I looked at because it so often led me straight to the weaknesses in your case.

I often learned exactly who would be the proper witness to offer direct testimony and even learned which documentation I needed to ask for if it wasn't already in my file .. which sadly, was probably due to employer disorganization or just plain old indifference .. because they knew any determination could be appealed and corrected at hearing.

Often your appeal letters did my job for me .. they provided the self disqualifying information right there in black and white which might have prompted me to recommend that there was no need to attend the hearing.

However, it didn't do a thing for the way I felt about what I was doing.

And every now and then I would come across a well researched claimant appeal or rebuttal which included documents.

It was rare, but when it occurred, I happily recommended not attending or if the employer's appeal, withdrawing the "frivolous" appeal.

After years of doing this .. my opinion about unemployment appeals became cemented.

The unemployment appeals process is just another step in the unemployment insurance system that relies on individuals ignorance to control receipt of benefits.

That's easy to do if you tell them they don't need help through the process because it's designed to be fair, impartial and easy without the need for representation

The truth is .. some cases are straightforward .. and some are filled with the deception and subterfuge to veil what was really happening that led to a termination of employment.

It all depends on the people involved and the circumstances they shared an experience in.

Does Your State Offer Insufficient Information About How to Prepare Effectively?

Most states don't even provide an online resource needed to help you develop a valid argument.

But when they do, it's often buried deeper than most people look. Unemployment precedent decisions interpret the laws, but they use lingo unknown to most unemployed people.

I believe the portrayed benevolence of the unemployment appeal has a less than benevolent intent, in mind.

Unemployment appeal hearings are to my way of thinking the real battleground of getting or not getting unemployment.

The skill of representing oneself often requires a combination of the wits to think on your feet while under duress and a familiarity with the process and rules of unemployment to be able to stay focused on what you need to prove .. or rebut.

Losing an unemployment hearing may be due to inexperience only, just like winning may be due to experience only.


Who Files The Most Unemployment Appeals?

I haven't had anything to do with employer appeals for nearly three years now, but my experience up till then was that they are responsible for most unemployment appeals.

And of those appeals I handled, they did win approximately 75 percent of the time and without a doubt .. they often had a valid argument that even had me hoping they would win.

However, that is not what made my job a miserable experience for me. I will never forget how many appeals I thought were frivolous on the employers part were actually won that created what I call the collateral damage.

For me, there is no acceptable reason for this to happen. It either works justly for everyone .. or it is a system that fails. The information a state offers about appeals and hearings may actually be what encourages unemployment claimants to think they are safe relying on the impartiality of whoever presides over an unemployment hearing.

Ha Ha!!

Possibly, with the same type of info I found on the Illinois unemployment website ..

The hearing process is designed for the parties without arepresentative. The Referee is charged with conducting a fair and impartial hearing and it is his/her responsibility to protect the rights of all parties. However, you have the right to have a representative of your choice to help you at the hearing. Your representative can be an attorney or any other individual you choose.

All you have to do is find an interpretive resource for your state laws to know unemployment hearings are very legalistic in nature.

Let's look at an example of an interpretive resource. We'll just stick with the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Law Handbook as our example interpretive resource.

It's over 700 pages!! Filled with interpretive decisions on a variety of underlying issues relating back to the main issues of IL unemployment law .. which let's not forget is usually written by a bunch of lawyers turned politicians.

Sample letter of appeal to office of unemployment

My intent is to only keep unemployed claimants from going on ad nauseam and revealing anything accidentally in the appeal letter that creates an untenable position for themselves at the hearing.

If I were to write one for myself .. it would be along these lines.

I wish to appeal the attached determination (insert the identifying case number and/or mail date of the determination) denying me unemployment benefits per (insert statute #).

This letter serves as my notice of disagreement with the determination and as my request for a hearing to be scheduled where direct testimony and evidence will show the determination to be in error.

If this sounds short, that's the point, in fact, I've never read an appeal letter from a claimant attorney that went over four lines.

Providing detailed information without some foreknowledge of what is involved in the issue .. is when a claimant will most likely provide self-disqualifying information that can be used against you at a hearing.

A claims department determination only needs a simple appeal letter to request the hearing. The reason for appeal is your general disagreement with it.

My employer has appealed my unemployment benefits .. Do I need to worry?

Most unemployment appeals are filed by employers.

There will be a hearing and you need to prepare for it.

In fact you have more at stake, than if you had been denied and needed to appeal. You now have a possible overpayment issue looming in the future.

It doesn't matter which party appeals, you need to attend unemployment hearings and you need to prepare a case presentation.

You need to win the first hearing because further appeals to a board of review are something quite different .. which do require written arguments .. I think attorneys call them "legal briefs".

Unemployment Lawyers?

But, I didn't do the representing .. I would be too emotional in a contemptuous sort of way.

However, a main part of my job was to contract independent hearing representatives when an in house rep couldn't.

This required me to find both non-lawyer reps and attorneys in the lawyer only states.

I'm just guessing, but I suspect that unemployed people probably search for "unemployment lawyers" or "lawyer unemployment" .. unless I lived in one of those lawyer only states .. a lawyer wouldn't be my first choice .. because they lack experience in unemployment law.

Allow me to let you in on a little secret ..

Lawyers don't like to handle unemployment hearings for claimants.

Now don't get me wrong .. attorneys are important to contact for other employment related laws, you need one, but very few of them practice unemployment law.

What this means to you is that even if you find an attorney willing to take your case .. you need to ask questions about their experience at UI hearings.

I'll take a non-lawyer rep with lots of experience at unemployment hearings, any day of the week, over a blustery non-experienced attorney that isn't even aware the unemployment laws allow non-lawyers to be unemployment hearing representatives.


To summarize, the appeal letter does not need the details for a hearing to be scheduled, it just needs to state the reason you disagree with the determination that denied benefits and request that a hearing be scheduled.

How To Win An Unemployment Appeal

After you send the appeal letter you must "prepare your argument" that explains why the determination was in error. This can include locating the appropriate witnesses and or documents to submit and add weight to your testimony.

But most of all you need a legal grasp of why you were fired for something that is not misconduct or how you will prove you had good cause to quit.

But all the knowledge in the world cannot give you the ability to present a case properly.

Do you know what questions to ask your employer on cross examination?

Do you know when, what for, and why you should make an objection during the hearing?

Do you know how to make certain saving requests on the record for further appeals?

Do you know the administrative rules of procedure or the rules of evidence, for conduct of an unemployment appeal hearing?

Levels Of Appeals

The first Unemployment Hearing

The first unemployment hearing is the "legal proceeding" that establishes the record for all further appeals.

What I think state unemployment websites fail to make clear to you is that further appeals are really hard to win.

Do you understand the implication of establishes the record? You are a participant in this proceeding and you are acting as your own "legal representative".

Do you know how to protect your rights to due process? Do you know what to object to on the record? Do you think you can cross examine your former employer effectively?

Would you know if the hearing officer or referee made a mistake?

Most people don't. They think .. if I don't win this one, I have one more shot with an appeal to the board of review.

Good luck with that .. because that appeal is no longer about the details and facts of your separation from work alone, but procedural errors and case law misinterpretation by the hearing officer that issued the hearing decision based on what occurred during that hearing.

Success with this appeal is a long shot at best and truly is "lawyer territory" because they are familiar with the "rules of procedure".

But your problem is that while at that first hearing, you had your only chance to not only present all the facts through testimony and evidence, but to put objections on the record to protect your right to due process if that hearing officer wasn't really doing their job of "protecting your right to due process.

They are also given wide and almost unquestioned authority to judge credibility so if they believe the employer to be more credible .. I would ask if you prepared and presented your argument well enough to be the one that is most persuasive.

The first unemployment hearing is your opportunity to get it right and the tragedy is that most states don't provide enough information to self representing claimants to effectively form a valid argument.

The design, I'm certain, is intentional. If you stay ignorant of the legal burden and rules that control an unemployment appeal hearing you are simply, less effective.

But it's just unemployment .. right?

Whatever you decide .. the worst possible choice is to not find answers to your questions about what you need to do in that hearing to have the best opportunity of winning. No matter, who appeals!

Back to Unemployment Appeal Q&A's

More On The Appeal Process

Home