PA UC Board of Review appeal vs. hearing - has anyone won after losing first appeal?

the board just reviews the paperwork, they dont do another hearing. at least thats what happened with me. took like 5 weeks to get a decision.

The Board of Review doesn't typically conduct another hearing unless there are exceptional circumstances. They review the testimony and evidence from your referee hearing along with any written arguments you submitted with your appeal. If they feel something was missed or unclear, they might remand (send back) the case to the referee for another hearing, but that's not common. You should have received instructions with your referee decision on how to appeal to the Board. Make sure you clearly explain in writing why you believe the referee's decision was incorrect when you file your Board appeal. Be specific about any evidence the referee may have overlooked regarding your harassment claims. And yes, people do win at the Board level after losing at the referee level. I've seen it happen, especially in cases where there were complex workplace issues like harassment.

I WON my board appeal after losing with the referee!!!! It can totally happen! My case was different tho - they said I was fired for willful misconduct but I proved I was following company policy. Took about 7 weeks to get the board decision but TOTALLY worth it when I got that fat backpay check!!!

The PA UC Board of Review process is document-based in most cases. They review the transcript from your referee hearing, any evidence that was submitted, and the written arguments in your appeal. In my experience helping claimants, the Board overturns referee decisions more often than people think, especially in quit cases where there are workplace condition issues like harassment. Make sure you've submitted all documentation of the harassment and your attempts to resolve it with your employer before quitting. These are critical for proving "necessitous and compelling reason" to quit. Board decisions typically take 4-8 weeks depending on their current backlog. Unfortunately, there's no way to speed up this process through normal channels.

i lost both my appeals. whole system is rigged against workers. employer lies and UC believes them every time. waste of time imo

One thing to consider while waiting for your Board decision - if you're having trouble reaching UC to ask questions about your appeal status, you might want to try Claimyr (claimyr.com). They have a service that helps you get through to an actual UC agent without waiting on hold for hours. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 While it won't speed up the Board's decision, at least you can get updates on your case status without spending your whole day trying to reach someone at UC.

i used claimyr last month when my payments suddenly stopped. got through to uc in like 20 mins instead of calling for days. expensive but worth it when ur desperate

To directly answer your original question - yes, people do win Board appeals after losing at the referee level. My sister-in-law had almost the exact same situation (quit due to workplace harassment) and won her Board appeal after losing with the referee. The Board took her documentation more seriously and overturned the decision. Don't give up hope!

It took about 6 weeks for her. And yes, she had to borrow money from family during that time because PA doesn't pay benefits while appeals are pending. But once she won, she got all the back payments in one lump sum.

I'm also in the middle of a Board appeal right now (different issue - they said I didn't search for work properly). It's been 3 weeks of waiting so far. Has anyone managed to get payments while waiting for their Board decision? My claim status just says "appeal pending" and I can't even file my weekly claims.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I feel a bit more hopeful now knowing that some people do win at the Board level. I'll keep filing my weekly claims and try to figure out how to make it through the next 6-8 weeks financially. Maybe I'll try that Claimyr service to at least check on my status instead of calling UC endlessly. Will update here when I get my decision!

Good luck with your Board appeal! I went through something similar last year - lost my referee hearing for a quit case but won at the Board level. The key thing that helped me was organizing all my evidence chronologically and writing a clear summary of why the referee missed important facts. In my case, I had emails showing I tried to resolve issues with management before quitting. The Board seemed to give more weight to the documentation than the referee did. The waiting period is brutal financially, but hang in there - it's worth fighting if you have solid evidence of the harassment and your attempts to address it through proper channels before quitting.

I'm currently going through a Board of Review appeal too after losing my referee hearing (different circumstances - they said I was fired for attendance issues but I had FMLA documentation). It's been 4 weeks of waiting so far and the financial stress is unreal. What I've learned from researching this is that you absolutely need to keep filing your weekly claims even during the appeal - this was crucial info I almost missed! I called UC to confirm and they said if you don't file weekly during the appeal period, you lose those weeks even if you win the Board appeal. The waiting is torture but from what I'm reading here, people do win these Board appeals more often than I expected. Hang in there and don't give up - sounds like you have solid documentation of the harassment which is exactly what the Board needs to see.

I went through this exact situation about 8 months ago and WON my Board appeal after losing the referee hearing! My case was also a quit due to workplace harassment that my employer completely ignored. The Board doesn't hold another hearing - they just review all the documents, testimony transcript, and your written appeal arguments. What really helped me was being very specific in my written appeal about exactly which evidence the referee overlooked or misinterpreted. I included a timeline showing how I followed proper channels to report the harassment before quitting. The Board took about 6 weeks to decide, which was agonizing financially, but when I won I got a huge lump sum backpay. Keep filing your weekly claims during the appeal - that's critical! Don't lose hope, harassment cases can definitely win at the Board level if you have good documentation.