If you received a Notice of Overpayment or your benefits were revoked and you filed an appeal with the EDD, you may be wondering what happens next. So, what happens after the appeal?
Next Steps
After you have sent in the EDD’s appeal form, your appeal will be processed and your case will be sent to the California Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board (CUIAB). Next, your case will be assigned to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to go over your case. The ALJ will also decide if the EDD made the correct decision.
A packet from the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board will be sent to you, which includes a Notice of Hearing. This Notice is typically printed on yellow paper and will explain when and where the hearing will occur. Please contact the Office of Appeals if you are unable to make the hearing date and time to reschedule. This hearing may be conducted in person or remotely via telephone.
What Can I Say at the Hearing?
At the hearing, you will be able to detail your story and explain why you believe you are eligible for benefits. You should also explain that you should not have received the overpayment notice. Legal Aid at Work recommends the following types of arguments to remove the overpayment or lower the amount owed:
- Explain that there is no overpayment as you are eligible for the benefits.
- If you were found to have provided a false statement, you can also explain that you did not purposely make a false statement. This is especially important if you misunderstood the question(s) that were answered incorrectly. If reversed, you will no longer have to pay a false statement penalty. Also, when reversed, you will avoid serving penalty weeks where you are unable to receive UI benefits. Without proving that you did not make a willful false statement, your overpayment will not be waived.
- Explain that you did not make a false statement. In some cases, the EDD can determine that you made a false statement when the information you provided differs from your employer, even if the employer’s version is incorrect.
Things to Keep in Mind
Be sure to argue that the overpayment be waived. It would be unfair to pay back something that was not your fault. Remember, the EDD is required to waive the overpayment if it is not your fault. However, you must prove that the overpayment is unfair and will cause hardship. For example, did you rely on unemployment insurance (UI) because of limited savings and that money went to necessary expenses? If so, making you pay these back is wrong.
You will need to show your family’s income and expenses and may need to include some property information. You will also want to show any special circumstances that prove that paying back the overpayment will cause “extraordinary hardship.”
Need More Information?
If you have an EDD Notice of Overpayment or any debt, please contact our office today to hear about how you can greatly reduce or eliminate your debt.
At the Law Office of Daniela Romero, we believe in relationships that are based on trust. Before we work together, we would like you to get to know us. We want you to be sure you are the right fit for us and that we are the perfect fit for you. This will allow you to be completely comfortable sharing intimate and difficult details of your case, so we can offer you representation to the fullest extent of the law. Call us today to set up a free consultation.