Appeal an unemployment denial in Pennsylvania
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Pennsylvania
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Appeal to a UC Referee
Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, Referee Office
- Deadline
21 calendar days from the determination date printed on the notice of determination
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 21st day falls on a day the department is closed (Saturday, Sunday or holiday), the deadline moves to the next business day.
- How to file
- Appeal online in your UC account (Unemployment Services > Appeals > Determination > File Appeal) and wait for the message "Appeal Successfully Filed." Or send a Petition for Appeal (UC-46B) or a letter by mail, fax or email (UCAppeals@pa.gov), or deliver it to a PA CareerLink office. You cannot file at a UC Service Center. A mailed appeal is filed on the U.S. Postal Service postmark date; a fax, email or online appeal is filed on the date L&I receives it (before midnight of the last day).
- Where to send it
Mail Processing Unit, 651 Boas Street, 5th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17121
Fax: 1-855-728-2329
- Official form
- Petition for Appeal to UC Appeals Referee (UC-46B)
- It must include
- Your name and address
- The last four digits of your Social Security number
- Your claim number or determination number, if you know it
- The date of the determination you are appealing
- The reason for your appeal
- The name, mailing address, phone number and email address of the person filing the appeal
- If it is late
- You can still file after the deadline. The Referee decides whether you had good cause for filing late. If not, the appeal is dismissed.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Pa. UC Law sec. 501(e); Pa. UC Law sec. 34 Pa. Code secs. 101.81, 101.82
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the UC Board of Review
Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
- Deadline
21 calendar days from the decision date on the Referee's decision (the last day to appeal is printed on the decision)
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date
- Weekends and holidays
- If the 21st day falls on a day the UC service center is closed, the deadline moves to the next working day.
- How to file
- Appeal online in your UC account, or send a Petition for Appeal to the UC Board of Review (UC-46A) or a letter by mail, fax or email, or deliver it to a PA CareerLink office or the Board's office. If you missed the Referee hearing, say why in your appeal and ask for another (remand) hearing.
- Where to send it
UC Board of Review, 651 Boas Street, Room 1119, Harrisburg, PA 17121
Fax: 717-346-4484
- It must include
- Your name and address
- The last four digits of your Social Security number
- The Referee Office docket number
- The date of the decision you are appealing
- The reason for your appeal
- The name, mailing address, phone number and email address of the person filing the appeal
- If it is late
- The Board decides whether you had good cause for a late appeal. If not, the appeal is dismissed.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Pa. UC Law sec. 502; Pa. UC Law sec. 34 Pa. Code sec. 101.82
Official source: Source page
Petition for review in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the decision date of the Board's decision
- What to know
- If you disagree with the Board's decision, you can file a petition for review with the Commonwealth Court within 30 days. Filing fees are waived for claimants. A mailed petition counts as filed when the Court receives it, unless you have a U.S. Postal Service proof of mailing. You can also file online through PACFile. You may ask the Board to reconsider within 15 days, but that does not extend the 30-day court deadline.
Law: Pa. UC Law sec. 510; Pa. R.A.P. 1512
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
- Referee hearings are usually scheduled in person. You can ask for a telephone hearing right away through your UC account or in writing to the Referee Office; current rules allow phone testimony in most cases. Some hearings are scheduled by phone.
- Documents and witnesses
- Review the appeal file in your UC account or with your hearing notice. For a phone hearing, send your documents to the Referee Office at least five days before the hearing so they can be shared with all parties. For an in-person hearing, bring your hearing notice, ID and copies of your documents, and arrive 15 minutes early.
- Subpoena
- If a witness will not come or documents will not be provided, ask the Referee to issue a subpoena through your UC account or in writing to the Referee Office. Include the claimant's name, docket number, the person's name and address, and why you need them. You must serve the subpoena on the witness.
- Interpreter
- Ask the Referee Office or use your UC account as soon as possible for an interpreter or help with hearing, speech or vision. These services are free.
- Representation
- You can represent yourself, or have a lawyer or another person represent you at your own cost. Free legal help may be available from legal aid, bar associations or law school clinics.
- If you miss it
- If the person who appealed does not attend, the Referee may dismiss the appeal. The Referee waits at least 10 minutes. If you missed it for proper cause, ask in writing to reopen before the decision is issued. If the decision has already been issued, ask the Board within 21 days as part of an appeal; after a Board decision, within 15 days as a request for reconsideration.
Law: 34 Pa. Code secs. 101.24, 101.51
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment is benefits you got but were not entitled to. L&I treats it as either your fault or not your fault. A fault overpayment (from hiding or misstating facts) must be repaid, and interest is charged on any amount not paid within 15 days after the notice. Knowingly giving false information can also bring a 15% penalty, penalty weeks with no pay, fines or jail. A non-fault overpayment is taken out of future benefits during that benefit year and the next three years, at no more than one-third of your weekly rate (amounts of $99 or less are taken in full). Some non-fault overpayments cannot be taken from future benefits, though you may repay them voluntarily.
- Appeal within
- 21 days from the determination date on the notice of overpayment determination
- Fraud penalty
- 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- Not available in our data for regular benefits.
- How the state collects
- For a fault overpayment, L&I can file a lien, charge interest, take the money from future benefits during the benefit year and the next 10 years, and take federal tax refunds (only if the overpayment was caused by fraud or unreported earnings, after a notice giving you at least 60 days to respond). You can pay online in your UC account or by check or money order to "PA UC Fund," Office of UC Benefits, UI Payment Services, PO Box 67503, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7503.
Law: Pa. UC Law secs. 801, 804; Pa. UC Law sec. 804
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 1-888-313-7284. Legal aid and other free help in Pennsylvania → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Pennsylvania
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (find free civil legal aid near you), Community Legal Services of Philadelphia - Employment (unemployment compensation help) and PA CareerLink (free job search help; UC Connect in-person claim help).