If you requested an appeal for a Notice of Determination of Notice of Overpayment from the EDD, you will have a hearing with an administrative judge, usually over the phone. How can you prepare?
Before the hearing, you should think about how you will communicate during the hearing, and decide whether you want to submit written evidence or have information that you have not told the EDD available to share orally with the judge. Before getting into some bigger topics, here are some key points about the hearing process so that you are not surprised when you go into the hearing.
Hearings are conducted by phone – not in-person or by video – unless you ask for an in person hearing before the hearing is scheduled.
The length of hearings can vary, depending on how many legal issues there are and how many people show up. Usually, the hearings last between 30 minutes and an hour. Sometimes, if the hearing involves a lot of issues, the hearing can last longer.
If your appeal is related to your separation from your job (whether you were terminated, you quit, or something else happened), your employer will usually be able to show up to the hearing. If your online portal does not include a Hearing Notice that was sent to your employer, then the employer has not been told about the hearing, and will not show up.
Soon after you send in your appeal form, you should receive an “Appeal Acknowledgment” letter, confirming that your appeal was received and is being processed. This letter will instruct you to create an online portal account, so that you can access your appeal file and make other requests online. Go to https://cuiab.ca.gov/myappeal/ and follow the instructions to create your online portal account.
The hearing will begin with the judge reviewing the documents in the appeal file, confirming the names and addresses of all the parties, and explaining how the hearing will be conducted. During this part, you do not have to answer any major questions – just follow what the judge is saying. After the judge explains the process and admits the documents in the hearing file, the judge will begin the testimony portion of the hearing: They will place you and any other witnesses under oath and begin asking you questions about the legal issues in your case.
How to Request an In-person Hearing
If you have not already sent in an appeal form, you can add on your form that you wish to have an in-person hearing. Double-check that this request was processed when you receive the Notice of Hearing, because it should specifically say it is an in-person hearing on the Notice.
If you have already sent in your appeal form, you can make this request in your online appeal portal. Click on the “Action Request Menu” button in the upper right-hand corner of the page, and select “In Person Hearing Request” and follow the instructions.
How to Submit New Evidence
If you have documents you wish to submit as evidence, you can upload those documents directly to your online portal, and the judge will be able to see it before the hearing. Click on the “Upload Documents” button on the right side of the page and follow the instructions.
You may see that there is a deadline to submit new evidence listed on the Notice of Hearing. This deadline is usually not strictly enforced by judges, so if you have missed that deadline then you should still upload any documents you wish to the appeal portal.
My Employer’s Name is On the Notice of Hearing – What Does This Mean?
If the EDD found you ineligible for benefits because they determined you were fired for misconduct or that you voluntarily quit your job without good cause, your employer will probably be a party to the hearing. This means a representative from your employer has the right to attend the hearing. They have the same rights as you to submit evidence and provide testimony regarding why you are no longer working for them.
Even if your employer is there, you should still do your best to focus on how to respond to the judge’s questions and what you know to be true. Their presence should not affect how you answer the judge’s questions.
You will have the opportunity to ask your employer questions, and the representative from your employer will also be able to ask you questions (this is called “cross-examination”). We usually suggest to not ask your employer questions, especially if you do not know what their answer will be. It is difficult to force your employer to answer your questions in a way that will actually help your case, so usually it is better to be safe and not ask them further questions than the judge has.
How to Prepare for the Hearing
Read the Notice of Determinations that are in the case file, and Notice of Overpayment, if you also received this type of notice. The major issues in the case should be identified on those documents.
Think about the time period when the issues identified by the EDD took place. Even if the events took place years ago, the judge will still ask you questions about the events, and you should try and answer those questions to the best of your ability and memory.
Collect any documents that might help your case, and upload them to the hearing portal. These types of documents might include payroll records from your former employer, your personnel records, an employee manual from your former employer, a termination or resignation letter, emails between you and your employer, or medical documents.
Claimants are allowed to bring witnesses to testify about information that the claimant does not know about personally. Think about if there are any witnesses who have information about the issues you might not have, and who you could ask for help. If they cannot appear during the hearing, you can also write a Declaration in their name, have them sign it, and upload the Declaration to the online portal for the judge to read.
How to Answer the Judge’s Questions
After the judge places you under oath, they will ask you questions regarding the legal issues in your case. The judge usually starts with basic background questions about your application for unemployment benefits and the job you had before applying for benefits. After these background questions, the judge will begin to ask more substantive questions about the legal issues (for example, by asking how the job you had before applying for benefits ended).
Pay close attention to the judge’s specific question, and only answer that specific question. If the judge asks you a “yes or no” question, it is fine to simply answer “yes” or “no,” but you can also tell the judge that you would like to explain additional context about the answer.
Avoid giving answers that are too long. When in doubt, you should err on the side of giving less information in a single answer, to avoid muddying the water with irrelevant information or getting too far ahead of the judge’s questions.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t guess. Either ask the judge to clarify their question if you don’t understand the judge’s question, or tell them that you do not know the answer to that question.
Answer the judge’s question in a respectful, polite and measured way. Many cases come down to a question of credibility, which the judge will evaluate in your answers. If you respond angrily or with a lot of frustration to the judge’s questions, your credibility may be severely compromised. The same advice applies to the employer or their representative, if they are present.
When the judge is finished with their questions, they will give you the opportunity to give them any more information that you have not already given. If the judge did not ask questions regarding important information you have, this is the time to tell the judge that new information.
What Happens After the Hearing?
After you have given the judge all the information necessary for the hearing, the judge will close the record and end the hearing.
The judge will not give a decision right at the end of the hearing. Instead, the judge will prepare a written decision, and that decision will be uploaded to your online portal.
There is not a set timeline for when the decision has to be issued. Usually, it is prepared and uploaded within two to three weeks of the hearing, but it can also be done before or after that.
After your hearing, be sure to check your online portal every day or two so that you can read the decision as soon as possible. If the decision is not in your favor, you have thirty days from the day the decision was issued to appeal the judge’s decision. Read our fact sheet “How to Appeal an Administrative Law Judge’s Decision to the CUIAB Board” for more information on how to do this.
