You can file a claim for Unemployment Compensation benefits at any "one stop" office of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Ohio.

To receive benefits you must have worked in covered employment for enough time, you must be unemployed for a proper reason, you must be able to work and actively seeking work.

The Department will contact your employer concerning your pay and the reason why you left your job. Your employer’s unemployment insurance premiums are based on how many claims are paid, so they have a financial reason to dispute your claim. However your employer does not decide whether you get Unemployment Compensation. The Department decides this based on the legal rules.

The Department can hold an informal fact finding if there is a dispute about your eligibility for benefits.

You will receive two notices after you have filed your claim. You must win on both notices to receive benefits.

One is a Notice of Determination of Benefit Rights (UC-465NF). This will state whether your application is valid, whether you have worked enough covered hours, the date your benefit year begins and the weekly amount you may be eligible for.

The other is a Determination of Benefits (UC-465F). This will state whether your claim for a particular week of benefits is allowed or disallowed. This often concerns the reason that you became unemployed, such as whether you had just cause to quit or were discharged for just cause. However it may also concern whether you had pay attributed to you during the week in question, were available for work, or otherwise were eligible.

Appealing From a Bad Decision

If benefits are denied and you disagree with the decision, you have 21 days from the date the notice was mailed to file a request for reconsideration. It is very important that you appeal any unfavorable decision within the time period!

You must keep looking for work, submitting cards etc., during the appeal process.

If you receive benefits and your employer requests reconsideration, you will receive a notice of this.

If you lose the reconsideration, you have 21 days from the date of mailing to file a request for a hearing on this decision. Again you must appeal within these time limits.

If your employer appeals from a decision that was in your favor, you will receive a notice of this. If your employer ultimately wins an appeal, you will have an "overpayment" for any checks you received and will have to pay the money back. If no fraud is involved, the State has 3 years to recover the money. Thus it is important that you take any appeal by your employer seriously.

About the Hearing

After a hearing is requested, you will receive a notice that a hearing has been scheduled before a hearing officer of the Unemployment Compensation Review Commission. Read this notice carefully. This notice will contain the date, time and location of the hearing.

There are two types of hearing: In-Person Hearings and Telephone Hearings. You should be present at in-person hearings to present evidence upon your own behalf even if you have already received your unemployment checks.

Telephone hearings are conference calls between the Referee, the employer, and you. The procedure for your telephone hearing will be explained on your hearing notice. Usually at the time of the hearing you must call the telephone hearing phone number that is listed on the notice.

If you want a hearing in person instead of by telephone, you can request one if you do it at once.

You can subpoena witnesses and documents to your hearing. You need to do this well in advance. It is wise to remember that witnesses who still work for your employer may want to keep their jobs and testify accordingly.

Legal Aid provides representation to eligible clients at the hearing level. You need to call Legal Aid as soon as you request your hearing, and again when you get notice of your hearing.

Further appeal

If you lose your hearing, you have 21 days to request an Application to Institute Further Appeal to the three-member Unemployment Compensation Review Commission. Again the time limits must be followed.

If you lose, you have thirty days from the mailing date on the Review Commission’s decision to file an appeal in the County Court of Common Pleas or the decision is final. The Court will not conduct a new hearing. It will review the record of the documents and the transcript of the hearing. It will only reverse the Commission’s decision if there was an error of law or a factual finding was against the manifest weight of the evidence. However the Court will not second guess a Hearing Officer’s factual finding if there was a dispute that could reasonably have gone either way.

If you are denied Unemployment Compensation benefits, please contact Legal Aid’s HelpLine at 1-800-998-9454, Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., to file an application for legal services. We will review your case at that time.