After a Hearing FAQ

After the hearing, the appeal tribunal will review the testimony and the exhibits received at the hearing, decide how the unemployment insurance law applies to the facts, and issue a written decision.

The decision is usually issued within two weeks but may be delayed because of the complexity of the case, the need for additional research, etc. In unemployment tax cases, the Appeal Tribunal Decision is normally issued within 45 days following the hearing.

A copy of the decision is delivered to the parties and their representatives.

Yes. An appeal must be received or postmarked within 21 days from the date of the decision.

The front page of the decision will indicate the deadline date for appeal. There is no filing fee for this appeal. You may mail, fax or deliver your appeal to the Labor and Industry Review Commission or file your appeal over the Internet by following the directions at Appeal a UI Appeal Tribunal Decision to LIRC.

If the appeal is timely, the Commission will review the evidence already presented at the hearing in order to make a decision. No further hearing will be held unless the Commission orders one. For further information, consult the Labor and Industry Review Commission website.

A claimant who is unemployed should continue to file weekly benefit claims while an appeal is pending. This includes any appeal of the decision the claimant may make to the Labor and Industry Review Commission or any reviewing court.

At the same time your appeal tribunal decision was delivered, a copy of the decision was delivered to the location that issues your payments.

The effect of that decision needs to be entered into the unemployment insurance benefit system; this may take one to two weeks to implement. You may contact a claims specialist if this time period has elapsed and you still have not received payment.

Note: If you did not file weekly claims for those weeks, another eligibility issue will arise.

The documents that are marked and received into evidence as exhibits are part of the record of the hearing and cannot be returned while an appeal is pending.

For this reason, you should bring extra copies of documents you wish to have marked as exhibits. Unless the original copy is necessary, photocopies may be marked. But be sure to bring the original to verify that no alterations have been made to it.

You may request that the original exhibit be returned to you when the decision becomes final.

No. Such a conversation would not be permissible.

Once the hearing record is closed, no other evidence may be submitted unless the record is reopened by the appeal tribunal.

No. You may not obtain the appeal tribunal’s notes because they are the appeal tribunal's personal work product.

However, if you or the other party petition to the Labor and Industry Review Commission for review of the appeal tribunal's decision (a synopsis of the hearing testimony is prepared from the hearing record).

Upon request, the Labor and Industry Review Commission will furnish you a copy of the synopsis of the testimony.

In addition, all hearings are recorded and parties may request a copy of the hearing recording.

For a copy of the hearing recording, contact:

Unemployment Insurance Division
Bureau of Legal Affairs
(608) 266-3174

Be prepared to provide the hearing number, date of hearing, who you are representing and your telephone number.