How do you appeal a denied UC claim in Pennsylvania?

You have a legal right to appeal any unemployment decision, and your employer has the same right. Free legal help may be available to claimants through legal aid, bar associations, or law schools.

How to appeal a UC Service Center determination

The Department of Labor and Industry's page on appealing a determination to a UC Referee explains each way to file. Once you appeal, you are scheduled for a hearing before a Referee.

If the 21 days have passed, you may still file a late appeal. The Referee decides whether you had good cause for filing late: without it, the appeal is dismissed, and with it, the Referee considers your appeal on its merits.

If your Notice of Financial Determination (UC-44F), one of the letters you receive in your first week after filing, is missing wages or has other errors, you can correct it with a wage protest. A wage protest needs no hearing, the Department reviews it, and it must be filed within 21 days of the date on the notice.

What happens at the Referee hearing

Referee hearings are informal, but they involve testifying under oath, cross-examination, rebuttals, and witnesses, and every hearing is recorded. You can represent yourself, or have an attorney or another person represent you at your own expense.

If you cannot attend, ask right away for a continuance (a postponement) from the Referee Office listed on your hearing notice. A continuance is granted only for "proper cause," and if it is granted, the hearing is rescheduled.

Appeal deadlines at each level

The deadline for an appeal to the Board of Review is written on the Referee's decision. The Department covers each step on its pages for appealing a Referee decision to the Board of Review and appealing a Board decision to Commonwealth Court.

You can ask the Board of Review to reconsider its decision within 15 days of the decision date, but reconsideration is rare and granted only for good cause. Asking the Board to reconsider does not extend your time to appeal to Commonwealth Court.

A petition for review to Commonwealth Court may be filed electronically, in person, or by mail, and filing fees are waived for UC claimants. An appeal to Commonwealth Court counts as filed when it is received, unless you buy proof of mailing.

If you were overpaid

Pennsylvania's UC Law treats an overpayment differently depending on whether it was your fault.

Overpaid through your fault

• You repay the amount, plus interest at a rate the Secretary of Revenue sets, from 15 days after the Notice of Overpayment is issued until it is paid.
• The Department can collect it the way it collects past-due UC contributions, or take it out of future benefits. Interest is collected the same way, except that it never comes out of your benefits.
• No collection proceeding can start more than 10 years after the end of the benefit year in which you were paid.

Overpaid through no fault of your own

• You are not liable to repay it, but it is deducted from future benefits payable in that benefit year or in the 3-year period right after it.
• For an overpayment of $100 or more, the deductions cannot exceed one-third of the maximum benefit amount you are entitled to in a later benefit year, or one-third of your weekly benefit amount in any single week.

An overpayment caused by fraud or unreported earnings can also be sent to the federal Treasury Offset Program (TOP), which lets the Department take your federal income tax refund and apply it to the balance. If your balance qualifies, you get a notice by mail at least 60 days before the refund is taken.

What counts as unemployment fraud, and its penalties

The Department says UC fraud typically falls into 3 categories:

• Identity theft: someone uses your name, Social Security number, driver's license number, or other identifying information without your consent, and that information can be used to file for UC benefits.
• Claimant fraud: knowingly giving false information to get or increase benefits, collecting while knowing you are ineligible, or intentionally not reporting wages or income while collecting full benefits.
• Employer fraud: an employer avoiding UC taxes by paying wages under the table, not registering as an employer with the Department, not reporting all employees or wages paid, or helping an employee file a fraudulent claim.

Under the UC Law, knowingly making a false statement or hiding a material fact to get or increase benefits carries these penalties:

• On conviction in a summary proceeding, a fine of $500 to $1,500, up to 30 days' imprisonment, or both. Each false statement is a separate offense, and the person convicted is ordered to pay back the benefits with interest.
• You may be disqualified for 5 penalty weeks, plus up to 1 more week for each week you were improperly paid, on top of the improperly paid weeks. These penalty weeks are not added if you are already being prosecuted over the same false statement. The penalty weeks count against weeks you would otherwise be eligible for, as long as those weeks begin within 10 years after the end of the benefit year in which you were improperly paid. You can appeal the determination that imposes them.
• If you received benefits you were not entitled to as a result, you owe the Unemployment Compensation Fund 15% of that amount.

Reporting unemployment fraud in Pennsylvania

Report suspected UC fraud online through the Department's fraud reporting page, or call the PA Fraud Hotline at 1-800-692-7469. That includes a UC claim someone else filed using your information. If you suspect you are a victim of identity theft, the Department says to also file a police report with your local law enforcement agency.