Appeal an unemployment denial in Maryland
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Maryland
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Appeal to the Lower Appeals Division
Maryland Department of Labor, Lower Appeals Division (hearing examiner)
- Deadline
15 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed or otherwise delivered to you (the last day to appeal is printed on the determination)
- How to file
- File in BEACON (Correspondence > Search > "File Appeal" next to the determination) and keep your appeal number. You can also email UILowerAppeals.Labor@maryland.gov, fax, or mail a signed letter with your name printed clearly. Do not send a first appeal to the Board of Appeals.
- Where to send it
Maryland Department of Labor, Lower Appeals Division, 2800 W. Patapsco Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230
Fax: 410-225-9781
- It must include
- The exact name and date of the determination you are appealing
- The claimant's name as it appears on the determination
- The claimant's Social Security number (or last four digits) and/or claimant ID number
- A phone number where you can be reached
- A short statement of why you disagree
- If you need an interpreter, say so and name your language
- If mailed or faxed: your printed name and signature
- If it is late
- The hearing examiner can accept a late appeal for good cause. At the hearing, the Lower Appeals Division decides whether you had good cause for filing late.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. sec. 8-806(e), (g)
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Board of Appeals
Maryland Department of Labor, Board of Appeals
- Deadline
15 calendar days from the date of the Lower Appeals Division decision (the last day to appeal is printed at the end of the decision)
- How to file
- File in BEACON (find the Lower Appeals decision in Correspondence and click "File Appeal"), or by mail, fax or email to the Board of Appeals. If filing by mail or fax, print your name clearly and sign. The Board usually decides on the record; in limited cases it holds a hearing.
- Where to send it
Board of Appeals, 2800 W. Patapsco Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230
Fax: 410-767-2787
- It must include
- The claimant's name as it appears on the Lower Appeals decision
- The claimant's Social Security number and/or the Lower Appeals appeal number
- A phone number where you can be reached
- A short statement of why you disagree with the decision
- If mailed or faxed: your printed name and signature
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. sec. 8-5A-10(a)(1)
Official source: Source page
Petition for judicial review in circuit court
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the notice of the Board of Appeals' final decision
- What to know
- If you disagree with the Board of Appeals' final decision, you can file a petition for judicial review in circuit court within 30 days. There is no form; Maryland Rule 7-202 says what to include. Courts may not charge an unemployment claimant a fee. The court reviews the record and does not usually take new evidence.
Law: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. sec. 8-5A-12; Md. Rules 7-202, 7-203
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
- Lower Appeals hearings are held by telephone. Your hearing notice (in BEACON Correspondence) gives the phone number and conference code; you must call in on time.
- Documents and witnesses
- Documents you sent before are not automatically in the file. Upload them in BEACON (Appeals > your case > Supporting Documents > Upload Additional Documents), and mail copies to the other party at least 5 business days before the hearing. At the hearing, ask the hearing examiner to accept each document into evidence. If the issue is medical, have your doctor complete the Lower Appeals medical form before the hearing.
- Subpoena
- Ask through BEACON so the Lower Appeals Division gets it at least 5 working days before the hearing. Give the person's name, why their testimony is needed and the Maryland address for delivery (or, for records, a description, why needed, the custodian's name and address). Subpoenas can only go to Maryland addresses.
- Interpreter
- Say in your appeal that you need an interpreter and which language you speak.
- Representation
- You may bring a lawyer or other representative. Your witnesses can call in using the same phone number and conference code on your hearing notice.
- If you miss it
- If the person who appealed does not call in within 10 minutes of the start time, the hearing examiner may dismiss the appeal. If the other party is absent, the hearing goes on without them.
Law: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. sec. 8-806(g); COMAR 09.32.06
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment is benefits you were paid but were not entitled to. MD Labor sends a Benefit Overpayment Determination Notice by mail and in BEACON with the amount, the reason and your options: verify your identity, repay, ask for a waiver, or appeal. If the overpayment came from identity theft by someone else, you are not responsible for repaying it. You do not need to repay while a timely appeal or waiver request is pending. If MD Labor finds fraud, you must repay with a 15% penalty and 1.5% monthly interest, and you can be disqualified for at least 1 year.
- Appeal within
- 30 days from the mailing or delivery date of the overpayment notice
- Fraud penalty
- 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- The state can waive some overpayments.
- The standard
- MD Labor may waive repayment only if all of these are true: the overpayment was not caused by fraud; you were not at fault; it came from an agency error, an employer error, or a new decision on redetermination or appeal; it is not more than 1 year old (unless an appeal was pending); and you cannot repay now or in the foreseeable future, or your household income is likely to stay below the federal poverty level for your family size.
- How to ask
- Fill out the Request for Reconsideration of Overpayment Recoupment - Waiver form within 30 days of the date on the overpayment notice and send it by email or mail as the form says. It can be accepted late if you show good cause. Attach pay stubs and proof of your monthly expenses; if the reason is medical, include a medical statement.
- Income
- MD Labor compares your household income with the federal poverty level for your family size, which is printed on the waiver form.
- How the state collects
- You can pay in BEACON or set up a monthly payment plan there, or mail a check or money order to Division of Unemployment Insurance, P.O. Box 1931, Baltimore, MD 21203-1931. For overpayments without fraud, MD Labor can take up to 50% of future weekly benefits (up to 25% if your weekly benefit is $100 or less). It can also use assessments, state and federal debt collection (such as tax refund offset; a federal tax refund can be taken only for an overpayment caused by fraud or unreported earnings, after a notice giving you at least 60 days to respond) and legal action.
Law: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. sec. 8-809; COMAR 09.32.07.04-.08
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 667-207-6520. Legal aid and other free help in Maryland → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Maryland
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Maryland?
Maryland Legal Aid (free civil legal help for people with low income), Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and MD Labor Unemployment Insurance Ombudsman (help understanding a decision or the appeal process).