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.

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

Do I Need a Lawyer for My North Carolina Unemployment Appeals Hearing?

North Carolina unemployment appeals hearings are not held in court. They are "quasi-judicial" hearings, which means that they are like trials, but more flexible and less formal. One of the ways that these hearings are less formal than court cases is that both sides - the employer and the ex-employee, now known as the claimant - are allowed to present their side of the story without using a lawyer.

However, don't let the lack of the formality fool you. These hearings have serious consequences. Thousands of dollars in benefits can be at stake.*

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

The person who will decide if the claimant receives benefits may be an Appeals Referee, Hearing Officer or Special Deputy Commissioner. These officials are not judges, but act like judges, deciding cases based on North Carolina law and past unemployment appeals decisions.

In order to have the best chance at winning an appeal, a claimant has to know the relevant North Carolina laws and statutes and has to be ready to present his or her evidence in the most favorable way. If you don't feel that you can do this yourself, you should strongly consider hiring a North Carolina unemployment appeals lawyer to present your case as forcefully as possible and to fight for your rights.

If the claimant's former employer hire a lawyer for the hearing, the claimant has yet another reason to hire a lawyer - to make sure that the claimant's case is presented as well as the employer's case and to find the weaknesses in the legal arguments and the evidence presented by the employer.

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. 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. You can also visit my website at http://www.allenlawnc.com.

Image by umjanedoan.

*If a claimant loses at an appeals hearing, the claimant may then appeal his or her case to the full Employment Security Commission and then to a North Carolina superior court, but the legal costs of such appeals are often greater than claimants can afford. It is best to fight hard for benefits from the very first appeals hearing.