New Jersey Unemployment Appeal | Unemployment Claim Map

Levels of appeal and deadlines

Appeal to the Appeal Tribunal

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Appeal Tribunal

Deadline

21 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed to you (or delivered electronically, if you chose electronic notices)

Weekends and holidays

If the last day to appeal is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, NJDOL accepts the appeal on the next business day.

How to file

Appeal in writing: online through NJDOL's online appeal form, by mail, or by fax. You can also file in person at a local unemployment office. State why you disagree.

Where to send it

New Jersey Department of Labor, Appeal Tribunal, PO Box 907, Trenton, NJ 08625-0907

File online

Fax: 609-292-2438

It must include

Your name
Your Social Security number or claimant ID number
Your mailing address
Your phone number
Your email address
The determination you are appealing
Your reasons for disagreeing with the determination

If it is late

A late appeal may be dismissed. The Appeal Tribunal hears a late appeal only if it finds good cause, such as a delay caused by circumstances beyond your control or that could not reasonably have been foreseen or prevented.

While you appeal

Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: N.J.S.A. 43:21-6(b)(1); N.J.A.C. 12:20-3.2

Official source: Source page

Appeal to the Board of Review

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Board of Review

Deadline: 20 calendar days from the mailing date (or notification date) of the Appeal Tribunal's decision
How to file: Appeal in writing to the Board of Review. Instructions are on the last page of the Appeal Tribunal decision. The Board usually does not hold a hearing; it decides on the Appeal Tribunal record, so a detailed written statement of why you disagree matters. You can ask for a copy of the hearing recording by email or mail.
Where to send it: Department of Labor, Board of Review, PO Box 937, Trenton, NJ 08625-0937
It must include: Your name and mailing address
Your Social Security number or claimant ID number
The Appeal Tribunal decision you are appealing (docket number and date)
Why you disagree with the decision
Your signature and the date
If it is late: A late Board of Review appeal is heard on its merits only if the Board finds good cause for the delay.
While you appeal: Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: N.J.S.A. 43:21-6(c), (e); N.J.A.C. 12:20-4.1

Official source: Source page

Appeal to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey

Deadline: 45 calendar days from the mailing date of the Board of Review's decision
What to know: The Board of Review's decision is NJDOL's final decision. You can ask the Appellate Division of the Superior Court to review it by filing a written appeal within 45 days of the mailing date. The court has its own rules and costs. Call the Appellate Division at 609-815-2950 for information.

Law: N.J.S.A. 43:21-6(h); N.J. Court Rule 2:4-1(b)

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: Most hearings are by telephone; some are in person. You must register for the hearing by 3 p.m. on the business day before it, by phone or online. The appeals examiner calls you at the number you gave; you must answer. The call may show as private or unknown, so turn off call blocking that day.
Notice before the hearing: 5 days
Documents and witnesses: You can present documents and witnesses and question your own witnesses. You may ask that your employer produce documents about your eligibility. All testimony is under oath.
Subpoena: If a witness will not appear or records are needed, ask the Appeal Tribunal or the appeals examiner assigned to your case for a subpoena right away.
Representation: You may represent yourself or be represented by a lawyer at your own cost; an attorney's fee must be approved by the Board of Review. A non-attorney may represent you if no fee is charged. Free legal services may be available.
If you miss it: If you do not register or do not answer the call, your appeal may be dismissed or decided against you. To ask for a new hearing, write to the Appeal Tribunal (email appealtribunal@dol.nj.gov, fax 609-292-2438, or mail PO Box 936, Trenton, NJ 08625-0936) with your docket number or Social Security number, as soon as possible. To postpone a hearing, ask at least 3 days before; postponements are granted only for good and substantial reasons.

Law: N.J.S.A. 43:21-6(c), (f), (g); N.J.A.C. 12:20-3.2

Overpayments and waivers

If you got benefits you were not entitled to, you must repay them. NJDOL sends a determination explaining why and a notice of the amount. It classifies each overpayment as fraud or non-fraud. If you knowingly made a false statement or hid a fact to get benefits, you also owe a fine of 25% of the amount obtained by fraud, plus interest. Non-fraud overpayments carry interest only if a Certificate of Debt is filed. Except for fraud, NJDOL must notify you within four years after the benefits were paid.

Appeal: Follow the appeal instructions at the bottom of the overpayment notice. The law allows 30 calendar days after the notice was mailed, or 20 calendar days after confirmed receipt; NJDOL's page for waiver decisions says appeals must be submitted within 21 days after the determination was emailed.
Fraud penalty: 25% added when the overpayment is fraud
Waiver: The state can waive some overpayments.
The standard: NJDOL may waive repayment only if you did not misrepresent or withhold any material fact to get benefits, and the overpayment was caused by an error of the agency or of the employer (or the employer's failure to give information), or repayment would be contrary to equity and good conscience, or you have become disabled and can no longer work (or the claimant has died). Fraud overpayments cannot be waived.
How to ask: Go to the Overpayment Waiver Request page in your NJ Unemployment online account and select 'Request waiver application'. Within 24 hours you get an email from no-reply@dol.nj.gov with a link to the application (also on the Info Requests tab). Submit it by the deadline in the email. If no link arrives within 48 hours, call 732-761-2020.
Waiver form: Overpayment Waiver Request (online application)
How the state collects: NJDOL takes overpaid principal out of any future unemployment benefits (a payment plan does not stop this). It can also withhold your New Jersey tax refunds and rebates, send delinquent debts from fraud or unreported earnings to the federal Treasury Offset Program to take federal tax refunds, after a notice giving you at least 60 days to respond, and file a Certificate of Debt (a judgment) with the Superior Court. Paying in full or keeping a formal monthly installment agreement avoids most collection actions. Pay at myoverpayment.nj.gov or call 609-376-5945.

Law: N.J.S.A. 43:21-16(a), (d); N.J.S.A. 43:21-16(d)(4)-(5)

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 732-761-2020. Legal aid and other free help in New Jersey → Official sources →

Appeal an unemployment denial in New Jersey