How many times can an employer appeal unemployment benefits in NY?
My former employer has already appealed my unemployment claim twice and lost both times. Now they're trying to appeal again! Is there a limit to how many times an employer can keep appealing the same decision? This is getting ridiculous - I was laid off due to downsizing and have done nothing wrong. The NYS Department of Labor already ruled in my favor but my employer won't give up. Can they just keep appealing forever or is there some kind of cap on appeals?
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Dmitry Kuznetsov
In New York, employers typically get one appeal to the Administrative Law Judge level, then one more to the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board if they lose. After that, they'd have to go to court which is expensive and rare. What level are they at now?
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Sofia Hernandez
•They lost at the ALJ level and now they're going to the Appeal Board. So this should be their final chance?
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Ava Thompson
omg same thing happened to me last year!! my old boss appealed 3 times and kept losing. eventually they gave up but it took like 6 months total
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Sofia Hernandez
•Six months?! That's insane. Did you keep getting benefits during all the appeals?
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Ava Thompson
•yeah i kept getting paid but had to pay some back when they won one of the appeals temporarily. was a mess
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Miguel Ramos
The appeal process has specific levels: 1) Initial determination 2) Administrative Law Judge hearing 3) Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board 4) Court system. Most employers stop after losing at the Appeal Board level because court appeals are costly and have strict requirements. Document everything and keep filing your weekly claims.
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Zainab Ibrahim
This whole system is broken. Employers shouldn't be able to drag this out just to harass former employees. I had an employer appeal my claim THREE SEPARATE TIMES for the same job separation and it took almost a year to resolve.
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StarSailor
•That's awful! Did you ever find out why they kept appealing?
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Zainab Ibrahim
•Their lawyer told me they appeal every single unemployment claim automatically to discourage people from filing. Should be illegal IMO
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Connor O'Brien
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor about your appeal status, I found this service called Claimyr that helps you actually reach a real person. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of busy signals when I needed to check on my appeal.
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Sofia Hernandez
•Thanks, I'll check that out. I've been trying to call for weeks to get an update on when my hearing will be scheduled.
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Yara Sabbagh
just keep filing ur weekly claims no matter what they do. as long as ur not working and ur still eligible u should keep getting paid even during appeals
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Annabel Kimball
I went through something similar with a vindictive employer who kept appealing even though I was clearly eligible. From what I learned, after the Appeal Board level, they would need to file in state court which requires showing the Board made an error of law - not just that they disagree with the decision. Most employers won't go that route because it's expensive and they need actual legal grounds. Hang in there Sofia, sounds like you're almost at the end of this process!
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Grant Vikers
•Thanks Annabel! That's really helpful to know about the court requirements. It's been so stressful wondering if this could just go on indefinitely. Do you remember roughly how long the whole process took for you from start to finish?
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