North Carolina Unemployment Appeals Telephone Hearings: How Do They Work?

Many North Carolina unemployment appeals hearings are conducted over the telephone. While this may seem surprising, telephone hearings allow cases to be handled quickly and save employers and claimants (the ex-employees who have filed unemployment claims but have been denied benefits) time and money that would be expended on traveling to a North Carolina Employment Security Commission office.

Speak to a North Carolina Unemployment Appeals Hearing Attorney - Call Now: (919) 886-5005

The appeals referee, whose role is similar to that of a judge, calls the hearing participants (the claimant, the employer, their lawyers,* and their witnesses) at the time specified in the Notice of Telephone Hearing. Together, they all participate in a conference call. If the employer and the claimant agree that the claimant was discharged and did not quit, the employer's lawyer goes first, and presents evidence to support the employer's position, including testimony from the employer's witnesses. The claimant's lawyer then has the opportunity to cross-examine the employer's witnesses.

Next, the claimant's lawyer presents the claimant's side of the story, interviewing the claimant's witnesses and presenting documents that support the claimant's argument that he or she was wrongfully denied unemployment benefits.

The employer's lawyer then presents a closing argument. Lastly, the claimant's lawyer presents a closing argument, arguing that the employee should not have been denied his or her benefits.

After the telephone hearing is complete, the appeals referee considers all the evidence and sends the employer and employee a decision in the mail about three weeks later.

I am a North Carolina unemployment appeals hearing lawyer and I will help you fight for your benefits in a telephone hearing or an in-person hearing. In fact, my fee is lower for telephone hearings because they require less travel time for me. Feel free to give me a call at (919) 886-5005 or email me at richard.d.allen.esq (at) gmail (dot) com today to discuss your case. All discussions are completely confidential.

Visit my North Carolina unemployment appeals page for more information or stop by my website: http://www.allenlawnc.com.

Photo by el_monstrito.


*In this scenario, both the claimant and the employer are represented by lawyers. This is not always the case in unemployment appeals hearings.