You got denied, right? And so you filed an appeal. This was the first decision, the initial appeal, right? So once they say you have been denied, in the first decision, you have fifteen days to file the appeal of this decision. During this time, you are continuing to file certifications for each week after it passes, so that if you were to win the next appeal, you could be back paid for each of those weeks. No certifications made, no backpay, even if you win in the appeals hearing.

After you have filed the appeal, you will receive a notice that there will be a hearing. Your employer will likewise be notified. This will be done either by telephone or in person. If by phone, the appeals tribunal will tell you when they'll call you for the conference call. If in person, they'll tell you when and where to show up. If something happens and this is not a good time for you, you immediately call them for rescheduling. Either way, there will be no "court" it will be an agency hearing conducted by an appeals officer/judge/referee, whatever they call them in your state.

This process will probably take two or three weeks at best. Then you will have a hearing. You and the appeals officer and the employer will be present. You will each tell your side of the story again. The appeals officer will record the procedings and after it is over, will take a few days to make a decision either approving or denying benefits. If you are denied again, in the second appeal, you should hear about it via letter within a few days of the hearing, within another week, say. If you're approved in this decision, you will be back paid for all the weeks since you filed your claim that YOU HAVE CERTIFIED FOR as instructed in the material they have provided you.

If you are denied, or if you are approved and your employer objects, either party can then file a third appeal to the "board of review"which will reexamine claims material and the transcript of the hearing and determine if they think the law was followed. If this one goes against you, at that point, you could elect to take the issue to civil court, though by this time, it's beginning to look like your case may not have been a very compelling one and you may want to give it up.

In all, six to eight weeks is not an unusual amount of time to wait for the second appeals hearing, and ten weeks to first pay IF YOU ARE APPROVED would not be unusual. Remember, unemployment benefits are not considered an income based needs based program. They don't give them because you're poor and needy and you can't sue anybody if you don't receive them quickly. In the years when unemployment was huge and high and the systems were overloaded, which isn't completely over yet, it can take months to get all the appeals done.