Appeal an unemployment denial in Wisconsin
An appeal has short deadlines. Find your deadline, then use the letter and checklist to get ready.
All about unemployment in Wisconsin
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Levels of appeal and deadlines
Appeal to an Administrative Law Judge (Appeal Tribunal hearing)
DWD Unemployment Insurance Hearing Office
- Deadline
14 calendar days from the date the determination was issued (the last appeal date is printed on the determination)
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date or the date the agency receives it, as the state's rule says (check your notice)
- How to file
- Appeal online in your Claimant Portal (Determinations, then File an Appeal), or write to DWD and mail or fax it to the UI Hearing Office. File a separate appeal for each determination. Your appeal must be received or postmarked by the last appeal date on the determination.
- Where to send it
UI Hearing Office, P.O. Box 7975, Madison, WI 53707
Fax: 1-608-327-6498
- It must include
- A copy of the determination, or its nine-digit determination number
- A statement that you are appealing the determination
- Your name and Social Security number
- The business name and actual worksite address
- Dates and times you and your witnesses are not available for a hearing
- Any special needs, such as an interpreter or other accommodation
- If it is late
- If the deadline has passed, you must file a request for a late appeal and explain why it is late. An administrative law judge decides whether the reason was beyond your control. If not, the appeal is dismissed.
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Wis. Stat. sec. 108.09(4)
Official source: Source page
Petition for review by the Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC)
Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission
- Deadline
21 calendar days from the date the judge's decision is mailed
- Counts as filed
- on the postmark date or the date the agency receives it, as the state's rule says (check your notice)
- How to file
- File online on the LIRC website, by fax, or by mail or delivery to LIRC. There is no filing fee. LIRC reviews the evidence from the hearing and usually does not hold a new hearing.
- Where to send it
Fax: 1-608-267-4409
- It must include
- Your name and the hearing (decision) number
- A statement that you want LIRC to review the judge's decision
- Why you disagree
- Your signature
- While you appeal
- Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).
Law: Wis. Stat. sec. 108.09(6)
Official source: Source page
Action for judicial review in Wisconsin circuit court
- Deadline
30 calendar days from the date of the LIRC decision
- What to know
- You can start a case in the circuit court of the county where you live within 30 days after the date of the LIRC decision. You must both file a summons and complaint with the court and serve authenticated copies on LIRC within those 30 days. LIRC includes an Appeal Rights sheet with every decision.
Law: Wis. Stat. sec. 108.09(7)
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
- Most hearings are by telephone. You give the Hearing Office the number to reach you, and the judge calls you; you cannot call in. If you are not called within 10 minutes of the start time, call the Hearing Office. Some hearings are in person.
- Notice before the hearing
- 6 days
- Documents and witnesses
- Mail or fax one copy of each document to the Hearing Office and to every other party so it arrives at least 3 days before the hearing. Keep the Telephone Hearing Instructions packet; its documents may be used as exhibits. Medical evidence can be given on form UCB-474 instead of a live witness.
- Subpoena
- Contact the Hearing Office as soon as possible to ask for a subpoena. You may have to pay witness fees.
- Interpreter
- Ask for an interpreter in your appeal or by calling the Hearing Office at 1-608-266-8010.
- Representation
- You may have a lawyer or agent, but one is not required and many people represent themselves. DWD does not provide one. A representative cannot charge you more than 10% of the benefits at issue without DWD approval. Free help may be available from Legal Action of Wisconsin, the Unemployment Compensation Appeals Clinic and Judicare Legal Aid.
- If you miss it
- If you filed the appeal and cannot be reached within 10 minutes of the start time, your appeal is dismissed. Send the Hearing Office a written explanation right away, with the hearing number, before a decision is issued or within the 21-day appeal period after it is mailed. A new hearing is held only if the reason was beyond your control.
Law: Wis. Admin. Code ch. DWD 140
Overpayments and waivers
An overpayment means you were paid benefits you were not eligible for. If you were at fault, for example by giving information you knew or should have known was wrong or incomplete, you must repay it. If only your employer or only DWD was at fault, you do not have to repay. The determination says whether you must repay or the overpayment is waived. Overpayments do not earn interest.
- Appeal within
- 14 days from the date the overpayment determination was issued
- Waiver
- The state can waive some overpayments.
- The standard
- You do not have to repay a regular unemployment overpayment if it was caused only by your employer's error or only by DWD's error and you were not at fault. A claimant found even partly at fault is not eligible.
- How to ask
- There is no application for regular unemployment benefits: the overpayment determination says whether the overpayment is waived. If you disagree with a finding that you were at fault, appeal the determination.
- How the state collects
- DWD takes overpayments out of later unemployment payments. If a balance remains, you must repay it; you can pay online or by mail or ask for a payment plan at 1-608-266-9701. If you do not set up or keep a payment plan, DWD can garnish part of your wages.
Law: Wis. Stat. sec. 108.22; Wis. Stat. sec. 108.22(8)
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 1-844-910-3661. Legal aid and other free help in Wisconsin → Official sources →
More questions about unemployment in Wisconsin
Where can I get free help with an unemployment claim in Wisconsin?
Legal Action of Wisconsin (free help with UI appeals; intake line), Judicare Legal Aid (33 northern counties) and Unemployment Compensation Appeals Clinic (law students; appointments through United Way 211).