Tips for Testifying At The Unemployment Benefits Appeal Hearing
- Show up to a hearing 15-20 minutes early, check in at the front desk, and ask to review the file. Go through the file to make sure you know what documents are contained in it, and what the employer's version of the story is to make sure that there are no surprises in there.
- When the judge goes through the documents in the file at the beginning of the hearing and asks if you have any objections to any of the documents, your answer should almost always be "no". There is no reason to object to any documents, unless during your review of the file before the hearing you noticed certain documents that were falsified or forged, which is very rare.
- During the hearing, make sure that your answers are short, simple, and to the point. If you are asked, for instance, how much you were making per year most recently at your job, there is no reason for you to talk about your job performance, promotions, etc... Just provide the judge with a $ number that he asked for.
- Remember - your hearing is not about harassment, or discrimination, or any office drama you might have been involved in. It's not about your relationships with your co-workers or your superior. The judge is only interested to know whether your situation fits into one of the few unemployment insurance code sections that would make you eligible for unemployment benefits. In most cases, the only question is (a) whether you were terminated for "misconduct" or (b) whether you quit for "good cause". Keep this in mind when making your case.
- You must always be nice and courteous with the judge and with the opposing side, no matter how angry and dramatic the opposing side might be, which is pretty rare anyway. You must never try to match anyone else's anger in the room. The more emotional you are, the less believable you are. When the employer's representative is questioned by the judge, you must never interrupt or make gestures of annoyance, such as sighing or rolling eyes, however many lies you might hear. You must only speak when it's your turn.
- If you are not sure about something, i.e. the date of a certain event or a number of times something happened, it's much better to say "approximately x" or "about y" or "between y and z" than give an exact number that turns out not to be true, which would cast doubt on everything else you say, even if it was an innocent mistake on your part. For instance, if you are asked how many times you called in sick during the past 3 months of your employment with the subject employer, and you are not sure but you can estimate, it's much better to say "I believe between 15 and 20" than to say "12" and to find out later that the employer has proof that you called in sick 25 times. You are welcome to prepare a chronology of important dates and events that you could simply keep in front of yourself during the hearing to help you keep the timeline straight.
- Make three copies of each new document you wish to introduce at a hearing that the Appeals Board doesn't have yet. One copy is for you to keep, one copy is for the judge, and one copy is for the opposing side, as they are entitled to a copy of whatever document you are introducing during the hearing.