Kentucky Unemployment Appeal Guide
When you apply for Kentucky Unemployment benefits, you will get a Monetary Determination letter in the mail. This letter will state whether you are eligible to collect benefits, and if so, what your weekly benefit amount will be.
But what if you disagree with the amount? Or what if you’re denied benefits entirely? Thankfully, you have the right to file an appeal. There are administrative proceedings put forth by the Kentucky unemployment office if you disagree with a decision.
Within 30 days of receiving your Monetary Determination, you can file a Notice of Determination (Form UI-492) Appeal to Referee.
You can send your appeal to:
Appeals Branch
500 Mero Street
Frankfort, KY 40601
In Kentucky, you can also send a letter requesting your decision to appeal without using the specific form. This can also be emailed to [email protected] or faxed to 502-564-7850.
You will then be notified of a hearing, which will be mediated by a referee. In Kentucky, these hearings are most often conducted by teleconference. Immediately after receiving information about the date and time of the hearing, you must submit any evidence you’d like to present to the referee, following the instructions in the letter. You must also submit a copy of this evidence to any other party you are contesting, such as a previous employer. If you do not submit copies of this evidence to them, it cannot be used at the hearing.
The referee will attempt to assist both parties by bringing out the facts of the case. However, if either party so chooses, they may have an attorney assist in representing them. After the hearing is conducted, a decision will be communicated to you by mail.
Appeal to Kentucky UI Commission
But what if you disagree with the referee’s decision?
If you disagree with the referee’s appeal decision, you can then file a Referee’s Decision Appeal to the UI Commission. Within 30 days, mail your letter to:
UI Commission
500 Mero Street
Frankfort, KY 40601
You may also email your intention to contest the referee’s decision by emailing [email protected] or faxing a letter to 502-564-3562.
Note that there will not be a hearing in this round of your Kentucky unemployment appeal process. The UI Commission will review the evidence presented at the initial hearing. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that you submit all evidence substantiating your claim to the referee.
And if you still disagree with the unemployment insurance commission, you can file a Commission Order Appeal to Circuit Court in the county in which you worked (not the one in which you reside, if different) within 20 days of the UI Commission decision. If you do not do this within 35 days of their decision, it will become final and binding and you will have no legal recourse to change it.
If you’re wondering what kind of evidence would help build your case for collecting Kentucky unemployment insurance benefits, it will be anything that provides substantial evidence that your employment was terminated through no fault of your own, at least in terms of gross negligence or willful misconduct. Evidence might include company literature, a waiver, emails, text messages, pictures, videos, and perhaps even an additional witness.
Alternatively, if your appeal is over the amount of your unemployment compensation, you will need to bring evidence to the unemployment hearing that substantiates your claim, such as pay stubs, tax returns, a W2, or a 1099 form.
Take note that if you are going to miss your hearing for any reason, you should be proactive and ask for a different appeal hearing date, so that your appeals process is not slowed down or brought to a halt. Fortunately, if you do miss the hearing for your Kentucky unemployment insurance commission, you can request a new hearing within seven days, as long as you had good cause. Contact a Kentucky unemployment office location directly via email at [email protected] or simply use the contact information on your hearing notice. This aspect of the appeals process does not need to be observed for the unemployment commission, since you will not be present at their review of the evidence.
Why Was My Kentucky Unemployment Claim Denied?
Let’s take a closer look at the Kentucky unemployment eligibility requirements. First off, you must be unemployed or partially unemployed (such as having reduced hours) through no fault of your own. That means you cannot have been terminated because of something like gross negligence or willful misconduct. In most cases, if your termination was part of a labor dispute (like a strike) you may also be ineligible.
You need to have worked in Kentucky for the past 12 months. Also, keep in mind that once you start collecting benefits, you will have to maintain some ongoing eligibility requirements in order to keep collecting unemployment. One of these is a work search whereby you make at least one contact with a potential employer per week. At all times, you must be able and available to work.
Another aspect of unemployment proceedings is your work history, which is indicated by the amount of gross wages in your base period. In Kentucky (as it is in most of the United States) your base period is the first four complete calendar quarters of the last five complete calendar quarters before you filed your initial UI benefits claim. In this base period, you must have earned at least $1,500 in one quarter, and at least $1,500 in the remaining three quarters. Moreover, your total gross wages during the base period must be equivalent to at least 1.5 times those of your highest earning quarter.
Remember that some appeals are not about whether you’ve been denied or awarded benefits, but rather over the benefit amount. In Kentucky, your weekly benefit amount will be 1.1923% of your base period wages. Use the Kentucky unemployment calculator to make sure this amount coincides with what you believe your benefits should be. If these numbers do not match, you will want to file an appeal with the unemployment office. Regardless, remember to keep on filing for unemployment immediately, and keep on filing until your appeal is resolved.