Appeal an unemployment denial in Florida
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Florida
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Request for reconsideration (monetary determination, or new information)
FloridaCommerce
- Deadline
20 calendar days from the date the Monetary Determination was mailed or delivered to you
- How to file
- If your Monetary Determination is wrong (for example, wages are missing), ask for a monetary reconsideration in Reconnect or through the Reemployment Assistance Help Center, following the instructions on page 2 of the notice. For other (nonmonetary) determinations, you can ask FloridaCommerce to reconsider if you have new and substantial information, or you can appeal.
- Where to send it
- If it is late
- After 20 days, the Monetary Determination becomes final.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(3)(b), (c), (e)
Official source: Source page
Appeal to an appeals referee (appeal hearing)
FloridaCommerce Office of Appeals (appeals referee)
- Deadline
20 calendar days from the date of the determination
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 20th day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, you can file on the next business day.
- How to file
- File online in Reconnect (Eligibility screen, Details icon for the determination) or through the Reemployment Assistance Help Center, or mail or fax a Notice of Appeal form. The filing date is the online submission date, the postmark date if mailed, or the fax date stamp if faxed.
- Where to send it
Office of Appeals, P.O. Box 5250, Tallahassee, FL 32399-5250
Fax: 850-617-6504
- Official form
- Notice of Appeal (Form COM-A100(E))
- It must include
- Your name, address and phone number
- Your Claimant ID and the last four digits of your Social Security number
- The employer's name and address (if any)
- Your representative's name, address and phone number, if someone is filing for you
- The date of the determination you are appealing and its issue identification number (attach a copy if you have it)
- Why you disagree with the determination
- If late, why your appeal is late
- Whether you need an interpreter, and for which language
- Whether you will call witnesses or ask for subpoenas, and whether you have documents to use at the hearing
- Your signature, printed name and the date
- If it is late
- If your appeal looks late, the Office of Appeals may send you an order to show cause. You then have 15 days after it is mailed to send written proof that you filed on time or that you had good cause for being late. If you do not, the appeal is dismissed. No appeal can be filed more than 5 years after the determination.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(3)(c), (4)(b); Fla. Admin. Code r. 73B-20.003
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission (request for review)
Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission
- Deadline
20 calendar days from the date the appeals referee's decision was mailed or distributed
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date
- Weekends and holidays
- If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (including any day the Commission clerk's office or the U.S. Postal Service is closed), the deadline moves to the next day that is not.
- How to file
- File online at raaciap.floridajobs.org, by fax to 850-488-2123, or by mail, courier or in person. A mailed appeal counts as filed on its USPS postmark date; online, on the date the confirmation number is issued. You can also use the Commission's Notice of Appeal form. The Commission usually does not hold a new hearing; it reviews the record of the referee hearing.
- Where to send it
Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission, 1211 Governors Square Boulevard, Suite 300, Tallahassee, FL 32301
Fax: 850-488-2123
- It must include
- Your name and the last four digits of your Social Security number
- The name, tax account number and mailing address of the employer
- Your email address
- The docket number of the referee's decision
- A written statement that you disagree with the referee's decision, with what you believe was wrong
- If it is late
- An appeal filed after the deadline is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Before dismissing it, the Commission gives you a chance to explain why it was late.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(4)(b)6., (c); Fla. Admin. Code r. 73B-21.002, 73B-21.003, 73B-21.0031, 73B-21.0032
Official source: Source page
Notice of appeal to the District Court of Appeal
- Deadline
The Commission's order
- What to know
- If you disagree with the Commission's order, you can ask a Florida District Court of Appeal to review it. You file a notice of appeal in the district where you live, where the job separation happened, or where the order was issued. The deadline and steps are set by the Florida court rules and are explained in the Commission's order. The Office of Appeals' Notice of Appeal form cannot be used for this step.
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(4)(e)
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
- Telephone. The appeals referee calls you at the number on the hearing notice; you do not need to call in. If you are not called within 10 minutes of the start time, call the deputy clerk at the number on the Notice of Telephone Hearing.
- Notice before the hearing
- 10 days
- Documents and witnesses
- Send copies of your documents to the Office of Appeals and to every address on the hearing notice so they arrive at least 24 hours before the hearing (weekends and holidays do not count for Monday hearings or hearings after a holiday). Only evidence all parties received is used. If the issue is whether you looked for work, send your work search records before the hearing. After the hearing closes, no new evidence is allowed.
- Subpoena
- Ask the Office of Appeals for a subpoena through Reconnect, by mail or by fax. Include the docket number, the witness's name, address and phone number, and a description of any documents the witness should bring.
- Interpreter
- The hearing is in English, but interpreters can be arranged. If your Notice of Hearing does not say an interpreter will be there, contact the Office of Appeals right away and tell them the language.
- Representation
- You do not need a lawyer; most people represent themselves. You may hire a lawyer or authorized representative at your own cost, and the referee must approve the fee. People with low incomes may get free or low-cost help from a local legal aid office.
- If you miss it
- If you filed the appeal and do not take part, it is dismissed. To reopen, ask within 20 days of the decision online, through the Reemployment Assistance Help Center, or by mail or fax to the Office of Appeals. Include the docket number and why you missed the hearing. You must show a compelling and necessary reason.
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(4)(b); Fla. Admin. Code r. 73B-20.014 (Form UCA Bulletin 6E)
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment means you got benefits you were not eligible for. FloridaCommerce sends a Notice of Disqualification that shows how much you must pay back, including any income tax that was withheld. If it finds fraud, you also owe a 15% penalty, and you cannot get more benefits until the fraud overpayment is repaid. Without fraud there is no penalty, but Florida law still requires FloridaCommerce to recover the money.
- Appeal within
- 20 days from the date of the Notice of Disqualification (the distributed date)
- Fraud penalty
- 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- Not available in our data for regular benefits.
- How the state collects
- FloridaCommerce can take the overpayment out of your future benefits, collect it by a civil lawsuit, and send unpaid debts to collection agencies. Fraud debts can also be taken from your federal tax refund. Collection must start within 7 years. You can repay online by credit card or by check to the "Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund" mailed to Florida Department of Commerce, Benefit Payment Control, P.O. Drawer 5050, Tallahassee, FL 32314-5050.
Law: Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(6); Fla. Stat. sec. 443.151(6)(c)-(d)
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 1-833-352-7759. Legal aid and other free help in Florida → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Florida
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Florida?
CareerSource Florida centers (free help with job search and applications) and Florida Law Help (free legal information and legal aid directory).