Iowa Unemployment Appeal Deadline | Unemployment Claim Map

Levels of appeal and deadlines

Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge

Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Administrative Hearings Division, Unemployment Insurance Appeals Bureau

Deadline

10 calendar days from the decision date on the fact-finding decision

Counts as filed

on the postmark date or the date the agency receives it, as the state's rule says (check your notice)

Weekends and holidays

If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

How to file

Appeal online in your IowaWORKS claimant portal (Unemployment Services, then Appeals), online with the DIAL appeal form, by fax, or by mail with the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Form or a letter. A mailed appeal must be postmarked or received by the deadline.

Where to send it

Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, Administrative Hearings Division, Unemployment Insurance Appeals Bureau, 6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, East Entrance, Des Moines, IA 50321

File online

Fax: 1-515-478-3528

Official form

Unemployment Insurance Appeal Form (60-0169)

It must include

Your name, address, phone, email and Social Security number
Your employer's name, address and account number
The date of the fact-finding decision and its reference number
A clear statement that you are appealing the decision
Why you are appealing
Whether you want a telephone or in-person hearing
Whether you need an interpreter, and the language
Your signature and the date

If it is late

An appeal must be filed by the deadline on the decision or you may lose your right to appeal. If it is late, the judge decides whether it can be accepted.

While you appeal

Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: Iowa Code sec. 96.6(2)

Official source: Source page

Appeal to the Employment Appeal Board

Iowa Employment Appeal Board (EAB)

Deadline

15 calendar days from the mailing date of the Administrative Law Judge's decision

Counts as filed

on the postmark date

Weekends and holidays

If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

How to file

Appeal through your IowaWORKS portal (best), online at eab.iowa.gov, by fax, or by mail or in person. There is no filing fee. The Board does not hold a new hearing; it reviews the hearing recording, exhibits and any written arguments.

Where to send it

Employment Appeal Board, 6200 Park Avenue, Suite 100, Des Moines, IA 50321

File online

Fax: 1-515-281-7191

Official form

Unemployment Insurance Appeal Form (60-0169), part B

It must include

The claimant's name, address and Social Security number
The appeal number of the judge's decision you are appealing
A statement that you are appealing that decision
The reasons for your appeal
Your signature

While you appeal

Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: Iowa Code sec. 96.6(3)

Official source: Source page

Petition for judicial review in Iowa District Court

Deadline: 30 calendar days from the date of the decision you are appealing (the deadline is given on the decision)
What to know: Instead of appealing to the Employment Appeal Board, you can file a petition in Iowa District Court within 30 days of the judge's decision. After an Employment Appeal Board decision, you can ask the Board for a rehearing or file a petition for judicial review in District Court; the steps and deadlines are printed on the Board's decision. A filing fee may apply.

Law: Iowa Code sec. 96.6(3)(b); Iowa Code ch. 17A

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.

Date of the letter (required)

Your full name (required)

Your mailing address (required)

Your phone (optional)

Your email (optional)

Which appeal is this letter for?

Date on your notice (required)

How will you send it?

Address printed on your notice (required)

Copy the address where your notice says to send it.

The decision you are appealing (in your own words) (required)

Why you disagree (in your own words)

Write it yourself, in English. We do not suggest what to say.

Anything else your notice asks you to include (optional)

Sign the letter and keep a copy. Keep certifying while you appeal.

Other formats

Preview (the English text you send)

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 by telephone conference call unless a party asks in writing for an in-person hearing at an IowaWORKS Center. For a phone hearing you must call the toll-free number on your Notice of Hearing; the judge will not call you. Call no more than five minutes early.
Notice before the hearing: 10 days
Documents and witnesses: You can give new statements and submit evidence at the hearing. Follow the instructions on the back of your hearing notice for sending exhibits. Hearings, exhibits and decisions are public records.
Subpoena: Follow the instructions on your hearing notice, or contact the Appeals Bureau at 1-800-532-1483.
Interpreter: Say on your appeal that you need an interpreter and give your language. Free interpretation is available.
Representation: You may represent yourself or have a lawyer or other representative at no cost to IWD. If you hire a lawyer, you pay for it.
If you miss it: If you filed the appeal and do not take part, your appeal may be dismissed. If you cannot attend, send a written postponement request to the Appeals Bureau at least three days before the hearing by fax, email or mail; it is granted only for good reason.

Law: Iowa Code sec. 96.6(3)(a)

Overpayments and waivers

You must repay benefits you were not eligible for, even if you acted in good faith and were not at fault. IWD sends a letter with the amount and the weeks involved. If the overpayment was caused by fraud (deliberately giving false information), you also owe a 15% penalty and daily interest, and you cannot get benefits until the whole balance is paid.

Appeal within: 10 days from the decision date on the overpayment decision
Fraud penalty: 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
Waiver: Not available in our data for regular benefits.
How the state collects: IWD can take up to 100% of future unemployment benefits for a non-fraud overpayment, intercept state and federal tax refunds (the federal refund only for an overpayment caused by fraud or unreported earnings, after a notice giving you at least 60 days to respond), lottery and casino winnings and vendor payments, and garnish wages. You can set up a payment plan. A fraud overpayment cannot be paid from benefits.

Law: Iowa Code sec. 96.3(7), 96.16

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 1-866-239-0843. Legal aid and other free help in Iowa → Official sources →

Appeal an unemployment denial in Iowa