Unemployment Compensation Referee Hearing
If your Notice of Determination denied you benefits, you may appeal the determination and you will be scheduled for a UC Referee Hearing. But you must appeal the determination within 15 days from the date that Notice of Determination was mailed.
You will want the best unemployment attorneys at your referee hearing. At a referee hearing your employer will have the chance to put on evidence and refute evidence presented by you. The referee will then determine your eligibility for UC benefits based upon the evidence presented. While many employers are represented at these hearings, some are not. Of the employers that are represented, many are represented by non-attorney professionals who often lack a complete understanding of the rules of evidence. Often times an ex-employee may win an unemployment case based on evidentiary technicalities. Two prime examples of these cases are where an employer is incapable of having a urine screening admitted due to technicalities or where an ex-employee’s statements are not allowed to be introduced because they are hearsay.
Unfortunately, if your Notice of Determination found you eligible for benefits, the employer can also challenge your benefits by requesting a referee hearing.
Do I need a local unemployment attorney for Unemployment Benefits?
It used to be that many benefit seekers could win their hearing by default because the employer would not show up to the referee hearing or would not contest their claims. And employers did this for good reason, a granted unemployment claim cost them nothing. Employers paid into a government mandated unemployment fund whether they had ex-employees collecting or not.
Will my employer show up to an Unemployment Hearing?
Nothing has changed regarding the cost of granted claims to employers but the days of uncontested unemployment hearings are over. It is a sad fact that employers now vehemently defend against unemployment claims. Employers are now willing to spend large sums to fight unemployment claims. The only logical conclusion is that they do so in order to keep employees afraid of losing their jobs and working more productively.
When you’re going up against an employer who is fighting you even though they have nothing to lose, you need the best possible representation. An attorney will be able to cross-examine witnesses and establish legal arguments as to why you are entitled to UC benefits. Most of all, an attorney is skilled in the rules of evidence.
Many employers use non-attorney representatives who are incapable of introducing critical evidence if properly objected to. Two prime examples of these cases are where an employer is seeking to introduce a urine screening but cannot due to evidentiary technicalities or where an ex-employee’s statements are not allowed into evidence because your attorney properly objects to them as hearsay and the employers representative is incapable of getting around the objection.
Unemployment Compensation Attorney in the Lehigh Valley
Additionally, an attorney can file a thorough brief with the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review or Commonwealth Court. A fact which discourages referees from ruling against you. With so much riding on your initial referee hearing, it’s important to get it done right from the start. To speak with an experienced Lehigh Valley unemployment compensation benefits attorney, contact our office today.