FAQs For Unemployment Insurance Appeals

Filing An Appeal

How do I appeal a determination I don't agree with?

An appeal must be in writing and signed by an interested party or representative. An appeal must be postmarked, hand-delivered or faxed to any local office or to the Appeals Bureau at 317 W. Main St., Boise, Idaho 83735 on or before the last day to appeal.

• If mailed, the appeal will be considered filed by the date of postmark.
• If hand delivered to a local office or Appeals Bureau, it will be stamped as to the date of personal delivery and considered filed on that date.
• If the appeal is faxed, it will be considered filed if received during business hours on the business date that it is received in the office receiving the fax. Any faxed appeal received after 5 pm (as of the time zone of the office receiving the appeal) or faxed on a weekend or holiday, shall be deemed filed on the next business date.
• At this time, appeals are not processed via the Internet.

Where do I get the Request for Appeals Hearing form?

Click here to access the form online. You can also get the form at any Idaho Department of Labor local office in your area.

Must a Request for Appeals Hearing form be submitted or will any written request be accepted?

An appeal must be in writing and signed by an interested party.

Who can appeal?

Any interested party to the claim can appeal. The term "interested party" pertains to (1) the claimant, (2) the claimant's last employer, (3) the employer whose account may be chargeable for experience rated purposes, (4) a cost reimbursable employer who may be billed for their proportionate share of benefits being claimed, (5) a representative of any of the above, or (6) the director of the Idaho Department of Labor or his duly authorized representative.

Timeliness

What happens after I submit my request for an appeals hearing?

After an appeal is filed, the local office forwards the critical documents to the Appeals Bureau. Not all documents submitted to the local office will be forwarded, only those documents marked critical or specific documents that the local office relied on in making their determination.

Appeals are processed in order of date filed.

How is it determined whether an appeal is timely?

Appeals are determined timely filed if it is postmarked, hand-delivered or faxed (prior to the close of business to the office receiving the appeal) within fourteen days after the date of mailing of the determination.

What if I file an appeal after the fourteen day deadline?

If an appeal is filed after the determination has gone final it will be processed and forwarded to the Appeals Bureau. The Appeals Bureau will schedule a hearing on the issue of whether a appeal has been timely filed.

Process

What happens after I submit my request for an appeals hearing?

The appeal is sent to the Appeals Bureau. Appeals are processed and scheduled in order of date file, meaning that a claimant who filed on the first day of the month should be scheduled for a hearing prior to an appeal filed on the tenth day of the month.

How soon will the hearing be held?

Hearings are held as soon as the Appeals Bureau’s calendar will allow.

In accordance with Idaho Law, the Appeals Bureau is required to mail the Notice of Telephone Hearing and documents at least seven days prior to the date the hearing is scheduled.

When I receive a Notice of Conference Connection Telephone Hearing, what do I need to do?

It is important to read the notice in order to be prepared to participate in the telephone conference. You must follow the instructions as it is outlined on your notice when it is time to call in for the hearing.

You must call at the time scheduled for your hearing if you wish to participate. The appeals examiner will NOT call you for the hearing. Failure to follow the instructions on this notice may result in the dismissal of your appeal or forfeiture of your right to participate in the hearing.

You should also familiarize yourself with the information contained in the packet. It is up to the individual interested party to prepare and present his case at the time of the appeal hearing.

What if I don't have a phone to use for the hearing?

If you do not have a phone to use for the hearing, you may contact your local office and make arrangements to use a phone at its facility. A party may call from anywhere to participate in the conference hearing.

May I request that the hearing be in person?

Appeals hearings are only conducted by phone. Consideration for in person hearings will only be given to cases where medical necessity overrides a telephonic hearing.

What if I’m hearing impaired?

Every attempt will be made to use the TTY services in order to conduct a telephonic hearing. If this is impossible then an in-person hearing will be scheduled.

What if I need an interpreter?

Interpreters will be provided by the Appeals Bureau. Please contact the Appeals Bureau as soon as possible to inform them of any arrangements that you will need prior to the time of the hearing.

May my spouse, friend or family member speak for me?

An interested party may have representation. However, a representative will NOT be allowed to testify on behalf of an interested party. If you will have someone representing or observing in the hearing, you must provide the Appeals Bureau with this information.

May I contact the hearing officer before or after the hearing?

No. An appeals examiner may not have any contact with any interested party prior to or following a hearing. An appeals examiner can only have contact with an interested party at the time of the scheduled hearing and which is being tape recorded. This is to keep the appeals examiner as impartial as possible.

May I provide additional information after the hearing?

No, unless the appeals examiner gave specific instructions in the hearing and left the record open to allow for additional information to be submitted after the hearing has been concluded.

Under what circumstances would witness testimony be helpful to my case?

The best witnesses to have for the appeals hearing are people who saw or witnessed the incident. It is best to have these people available to testify in the hearing rather than write a statement.

An interested party may provide witness information in writing. However, without the first-hand testimony of the witness, it is considered hearsay.

The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that “…In an administrative proceeding hearsay evidence - standing alone - is not sufficient to support findings.” Therefore, the appeals examiner must give more weight to first-hand testimony that is provided in the appeals hearing.

Parties will need to provide their witness name and telephone number where they may be reached during the process of the hearing. Witnesses are NOT called at the start of the hearing. The appeals examiner will call the witness after it is determined that their information is necessary.

Why would the appeals examiner disregard testimony from a witness?

A hearing officer may not call a witness if it is determined that the witness being offered does not have first-hand testimony to the incident.

An appeals examiner may not call a witness if the incident is NOT disputed in the hearing or if it is not relevant to the outcome of the decision.

Can witnesses participate in the hearing and testify on my behalf?

Witnesses may participate in the hearing. However, they may NOT testify on behalf of an interested party.

Witnesses are not considered interested parties and will only be allowed into the hearing to testify to their specific information and then excused.

Why do I have to present my side all over again if I provided information used in making the initial determination being appealed?

Since the appeals hearing is considered a new proceeding, any information must be presented in the appeals hearing to be considered in the decision. If a document that you believe is critical to the outcome is not in your hearing package, you have the right to resubmit it to the appeals examiner AND to all interested parties.

The appeals examiner is required by law to give more weight to first-hand testimony provided at the time of the hearing.

Will the information I provided the first time be used if I don’t participate in the hearing?

The local office sends only the critical documents to the Appeals Bureau.

The information will be considered but may be insufficient if first-hand testimony is absent at the time of the hearing.

Any information presented by a party in the hearing will be presumed to be undisputed if no other party appears.

What is a critical document?

Critical documents are those documents that were presented to the local office at the time of the initial determination and documents that the local office relied on when making their determination.

Examples of critical documents may be: employee warnings or written reprimands, employer policies, and medical records, phone records or other types of documents relied on by the local office in making their determination.

Decisions

How will I know the outcome of the hearing?

After the hearing, the appeals examiner will review the record and issue a written decision as soon as possible. As a general rule, an attempt will be made to mail decisions within ten working days after the hearing has been concluded and the record closed.

How does the Appeals Bureau evaluate the evidence presented by an employer or claimant in making a decision?

The department will consider the moving party in the separation of employment as that party having the burden of proof.

• An employer has the burden of proving that a claimant was discharged for misconduct in connection to employment.
• A claimant has the burden of proving that they quit their job with good cause in connection to employment.

Contact Issues

What if my address has or will be changing?

You must notify the local office and the Appeals Bureau as soon as possible if any information has changed.

What if I didn’t receive the Notice of Telephone Hearing or decision?

An interested party should contact the Appeals Bureau immediately upon discovery of not receiving the notice or a decision.

Employer Issues

If a business contracts with a third party company to handle unemployment claims, can that third party represent the employer at an appeals hearing?

Yes.

If the appeals decision finds the claimant ineligible, but the claimant has already been paid benefits, is my account chargeable for the benefits paid?

No, not if you have an experience-rated account and are the major-base employer.

If you are a cost-reimbursable employer you will receive credit only when the claimant has repaid the overpaid benefits to the Idaho Department of Labor.

How can I appeal benefits charged against the business account?

In order for a major-base employer to seek relief of chargeability to their experience rated account, they will need to appeal the claimant’s personal eligibility (eligibility determination).

If no determination on the claimant’s personal eligibility has been made but a chargeable determination was mailed, then an appeal will need to be filed within the fourteen days to appeal the chargeable determination.

If I don’t agree with the Appeals Bureau’s decision, what do I do?

If an interested party disagrees with an Appeals Bureau decision then a written appeal must be filed with the Industrial Commission, as outlined in the appeals examiner’s decision. Click here to go to the Industrial Commission website.

All questions regarding the Industrial Commission’s rules and procedures will need to be directed to the Industrial Commission.

How do I report unemployment insurance benefit fraud?

Click here to go to the automated fraud report.

Claimant Issues

What happens if I was originally found eligible and received benefits, then the appeals decision finds me ineligible?

If a determination finding the claimant eligible is overturned by the Appeals Bureau, it will generate an overpayment.

What is an overpayment?

An overpayment may be generated when:

• A claimant was found eligible in an eligibility determination, which is later reversed on appeal.
• There is a correction to a claimant's earnings reported to the Idaho Department of Labor.
• A determination finds that a claimant willfully misrepresented or failed to disclose information to the Idaho Department of Labor in an attempt to receive benefits.

What can I do if an appeals decision results in an overpayment of benefits?

If a decision results in an overpayment you will receive a determination of overpayment. If you disagree with either one of these decisions, you should do two things:

• If you disagree with the appeals examiner’s decision, you should appeal that decision to the Industrial Commission, as outlined in the appeals examiner’s decision.
• The determination of overpayment carries appeal rights and if you disagree with that determination you should appeal within the fourteen days allowed by law.

If the determination of overpayment is upheld, do I have to pay it back all at once or can I make payments?

You will need to contact the Benefit Payment Control Bureau to discuss and make arrangements for paying back the overpayment.

Appealing an Appeals Bureau Decision

What if I don’t agree with the Appeals Bureau’s decision?

If any party disagrees with a decision made by the Appeals Bureau, it must be filed, in writing, with the Industrial Commission. The appeal rights are outlined after the mailing date in the appeals examiner’s decision.

How do I appeal an examiner’s decision?

All appeals of Appeals Bureau decisions must go to:

Industrial Commission
Attn: Unemployment Appeals
700 S. Clearwater Lane
Boise, Idaho 83712

Fax: (208) 334-2321.

What is the deadline to file an appeal with the Industrial Commission?

The appeal must be filed within fourteen days from the decision date of mailing and filed with the Industrial Commission as outlined in the appeals examiner’s decision.

Can an Idaho Department of Labor employee accept an appeal to the Industrial Commission?

No. An appeal to the Industrial Commission will not be accepted by the Appeals Bureau or local office. An interested party MUST file an appeal as outlined on the appeals examiner’s decision.