Appeal an unemployment denial in Colorado
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Colorado
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Appeal to a hearing officer
CDLE Division of Unemployment Insurance, Appeals Section (hearing officer)
- Deadline
20 calendar days from the date the Notice of Determination was mailed (or sent electronically)
- Counts as filed
- when the agency receives it
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 20th calendar day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the deadline is the next business day.
- How to file
- Appeal online in MyUI+ (fastest): go to "View and Maintain Account Information", then "Issues and Determinations". Or fill out the appeal form on the back of the Notice of Determination and mail or fax it with the front and back of the notice. If you fax, the date on the fax confirmation counts.
- Where to send it
Unemployment Appeals Section, P.O. Box 8988, Denver, CO 80201-8988
Fax: 303-318-9248
- It must include
- A clear explanation of what you disagree with in the Notice of Determination and why
- The determination you are appealing (attach the front and back if mailing or faxing)
- Any address change
- Whether you need an interpreter
- Your signature and the date
- If it is late
- An appeal received after 20 days is late. Send a detailed reason before your hearing; at the hearing you must show good cause for being late, or the appeal is dismissed. If your appeal is more than 180 days late, no hearing is scheduled and it is dismissed.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: C.R.S. 8-74-103(1), 8-74-106(1)(a)-(b)
Official source: Source page
Appeal of a hearing officer's decision
Industrial Claim Appeals Office (ICAO), panel of administrative law judges
- Deadline
20 calendar days from the date the hearing officer's decision was mailed
- Counts as filed
- when the agency receives it
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 20th calendar day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the deadline is the next business day.
- How to file
- Use ICAO's online form or send a handwritten or typed letter by mail, fax or email. You do not have to include arguments at first; ICAO will tell you how to send a written statement. Each side gets one free audio CD of the hearing; a written transcript costs extra (a fee waiver is available if you cannot pay).
- Where to send it
Industrial Claim Appeals Office: Unemployment Insurance Cases, P.O. Box 18291, Denver, CO 80218-0291
Fax: 303-318-8139
- It must include
- A statement that you want to appeal the hearing officer's decision
- The claimant's name
- The docket number on the decision
- The name of the business involved
- Any address change since the hearing
- If it is late
- If ICAO receives your appeal after 20 days, you must give a detailed explanation of why it is late. The panel decides whether to accept it.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: C.R.S. 8-74-104(1)
Official source: Source page
Notice of appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals
- Deadline
21 calendar days from the mailing date of the Industrial Claim Appeals Panel's decision
- What to know
- If you disagree with the ICAO panel's decision, you can file a notice of appeal in the Colorado Court of Appeals within 21 days of the date the decision was mailed, with proof that you served the division, ICAO and the other parties.
Law: C.R.S. 8-74-107(2)
Every state must give a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal to anyone whose claim is denied.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(3) (Social Security Act sec. 303(a)(3))
Appeal deadline calculator
Pick the appeal and enter the date it runs from. We add the days from the state's rule to that date.
Appeal request letter
Fill in the boxes and get a letter you can print or send. You write the reasons in your own words. The letter is in English because the agency works in English.
Hearing preparation checklist
Logistics and rights from your state's hearing information, plus your own list of witnesses and documents.
The hearing
- Format
- Hearings are held by telephone; the hearing officer calls you at the number you give when you check in. You must check in with the online Appeals Check-In Form by 2 p.m. Mountain time the calendar day before the hearing (weekends included), using the Docket ID on your notice. If you are the appealing party and do not check in or do not answer the call, your appeal is dismissed. If no one calls within 10 minutes, call 303-318-9299.
- Notice before the hearing
- 10 days
- Documents and witnesses
- Read the hearing packet that comes with your notice and have it with you at the hearing. Send any other documents with CDLE's online documentation form (fax or mail is slower), and give copies to the other parties listed on the Notice of Hearing so they get them before the hearing. Give the hearing officer your witnesses' names and phone numbers.
- Interpreter
- Write on your appeal form if you need an interpreter.
- Representation
- You have the right to be present, to be represented by a lawyer or other representative, to present evidence and to question witnesses.
- If you miss it
- If you appealed and missed the hearing, it is dismissed. You have 20 calendar days to appeal the dismissal: email a written explanation of why you did not participate to cdle_ui_appeals_front_desk@state.co.us and send a copy to all parties. A new hearing is scheduled, where you must show good cause. A second missed hearing is final.
Law: C.R.S. 8-74-106(1)(e)
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment means you got benefits you were not entitled to, for example because of misreported income, corrected wages, working while collecting, or an appeal decision. CDLE sends a Notice of Determination explaining why and a Notice of Determination of Overpaid Benefits. Payment is due right away, but you can set up a payment plan in MyUI+ ("Manage Debt"). If CDLE finds you made a false statement or hid a material fact on purpose, you owe the overpayment plus a 65% penalty.
- Appeal within
- 20 days from the date the Notice of Overpayment was mailed (appeal the Notice of Overpayment to dispute the amount; appeal the determination to dispute the reason)
- Fraud penalty
- 65% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- The state can waive some overpayments.
- The standard
- CDLE may waive repayment of a non-fraud overpayment if repaying would be inequitable. The law says this includes when, for example, you got public benefits such as SNAP, TANF, SSI, Medicaid or housing assistance in the 12 months before the notice; your household income in the 3 months before the overpayment decision was at or below four times the federal poverty guidelines; you need most of your income for ordinary living expenses; you changed your position for the worse relying on the payments; or the overpayment was caused at least partly by a CDLE error.
- How to ask
- CDLE reviews waiver when it decides the overpayment if it has enough information. If it does not, it notifies you of your right to request a waiver and how. If you cannot provide documents, CDLE may accept a signed written statement. CDLE does not try to collect while a waiver request is pending.
- Income
- Household income at or below four times the federal poverty guidelines in the three months before the overpayment decision is one of the reasons the law lists.
- How the state collects
- If no payment is made within 90 days of the notice, the account may be sent to collections. CDLE can also take overpayments (including from other states) out of future unemployment benefits.
Law: C.R.S. 8-81-101; C.R.S. 8-81-101(4)
What federal law adds on overpayments
- Whether an overpayment can be waived, and how to ask, depends on your state's law. See your state's page.
- Your federal tax refund can be taken to pay a past-due state unemployment overpayment caused by fraud or by not reporting your earnings, once it is final under state law. Before this happens, the state must notify you and give you at least 60 days to show that the debt is not owed or not legally enforceable.
Law: 26 U.S.C. 6402(f)
- For fraud overpayments, the state must add a penalty of at least 15 percent.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(11)
Free help
Call 1-800-388-5515. Legal aid and other free help in Colorado → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Colorado
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Colorado?
Colorado Legal Services (free civil legal aid for low-income Coloradans) and Colorado Workforce Centers (free help with registration and job search).