Appeal an unemployment denial in Vermont
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Vermont
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge
VDOL Appeals Unit (Administrative Law Judge)
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date of the determination you are appealing
- Counts as filed
- when the agency receives it
- How to file
- Appeal in writing by mail, email or fax, or deliver a letter in person to VDOL, 5 Green Mountain Drive, Montpelier. Follow the instructions that come with your determination.
- Where to send it
Vermont Department of Labor, U.I. Claim Appeals, P.O. Box 488, Montpelier, VT 05601-0488
Fax: 802-828-4289
Email: labor.appeals@vermont.gov
- It must include
- Your name, address and phone number
- The determination you are appealing and its date
- That you want to appeal, and why you disagree
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: 21 V.S.A. sec. 1348(a)(2)
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Vermont Employment Security Board
Vermont Employment Security Board
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date of the Administrative Law Judge's decision
- How to file
- Appeal in writing as explained in the judge's decision. The Board holds a hearing in Montpelier; you can take part in person or by phone. No new testimony or evidence is allowed. The Board can uphold, reverse or change the decision, or send it back to the judge.
- Where to send it
Vermont Department of Labor, U.I. Claim Appeals, P.O. Box 488, Montpelier, VT 05601-0488
Fax: 802-828-4289
- It must include
- Your name, address and phone number
- The decision you are appealing and its date
- Why you disagree
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: 21 V.S.A. sec. 1349(a)
Official source: Source page
Appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date of the Employment Security Board's decision (the Clerk of the Board must receive the appeal by then)
- What to know
- You can appeal the Board's decision to the Vermont Supreme Court in writing. The Clerk of the Employment Security Board must receive it within 30 calendar days. There is a filing fee, which the Court can waive in some cases.
Law: 21 V.S.A. sec. 1349(f)
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
- The Administrative Law Judge hearing is held by telephone conference call and recorded. After you get the Notice of Hearing, you must give the Appeals Office a phone number where you can be reached; you will not be called if you do not. Hearings are confidential and not open to the public.
- Documents and witnesses
- Upload documents to e-Services or mail or fax them (802-828-4289) to the Appeals Office so they arrive at least 24 business hours before the hearing. If the case involves your former employer, send them a copy too, or your exhibits will not be part of the record. Tell the Appeals Office in advance the names and phone numbers of your witnesses.
- Subpoena
- If a key witness refuses to testify, ask the judge in writing, before the hearing, to issue a subpoena. Say that the witness was asked and refused, why the testimony is essential, and give a street address (not a P.O. box) for the witness. The judge decides.
- Interpreter
- Free spoken-language and sign language interpreters are available. Contact the Department right away if you need one.
- Representation
- Hearings are designed so you can represent yourself. You may consult a lawyer or Vermont Legal Aid. Tell the Appeals Office early if you will have a lawyer; hearings are not postponed so you can find one.
- If you miss it
- Either side can ask for a postponement for good cause, such as serious illness or injury; call the Appeals Office as early as possible. The judge's hearing is your only chance to present evidence; later appeals review only that record.
Law: 21 V.S.A. secs. 1348, 1351
Overpayments and waivers
If you were paid benefits and later found not eligible, you must repay them unless you get a waiver. VDOL sends a determination with the reason, the weeks and amount, and any penalties. If VDOL finds you intentionally misrepresented or hid a material fact, you also owe a 15% penalty and can be disqualified for up to 26 weeks.
- Appeal within
- 30 days from the mail date listed on the overpayment determination
- Fraud penalty
- 15% added when the overpayment is fraud
- Waiver
- The state can waive some overpayments.
- The standard
- VDOL may waive all or part of an overpayment that was not caused by your intentional misrepresentation or failure to disclose, if it was not your fault and repaying would be against equity and good conscience. VDOL says you may qualify if the overpayment was not your fault and your income is below 185% of the federal poverty level, you spent the money on things other than ordinary expenses, you gave up other money because you got unemployment, or you receive benefits such as SNAP, TANF, LIHEAP, SSI or SSDI.
- How to ask
- Complete the Overpayment Waiver Request linked from VDOL's waiver page, with all required documents. You can ask for a waiver at any time after the overpayment notice, and you can appeal and ask for a waiver at the same time. If denied, you can appeal, and you can ask again later if your circumstances change a lot.
- Income
- One of the waiver factors is household income below 185% of the federal poverty level.
- How the state collects
- VDOL does not collect while an appeal or a first waiver request is pending. It can take part of future benefits (by law, from July 1, 2026, no more than 50% of the weekly benefit), offer a repayment plan you can afford, withhold 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), get a court judgment, and have a future employer withhold wages.
Law: 21 V.S.A. sec. 1347; 21 V.S.A. sec. 1347(f)
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 1-877-214-3332. Legal aid and other free help in Vermont → Official sources →