This pamphlet is mailed to a claimant whenever an appeal has been filed from the decision of the Unemployment Compensation Department regarding a claim for benefits. If you receive this pamphlet in the mail, this means that you or your former employer have filed an appeal.  With this pamphlet you should also have received  a Notice of Hearing Before a Referee informing you of the time, date, and place of the hearing. When you receive a determination with which you disagree, you should file an appeal as soon as possible. Information about filing an appeal is contained in the Steps in the Appeals Process: The Who, What, When, Why and How section of this guide and in A Guide to Unemployment Benefits in Connecticut, Your Rights and Responsibilities, which is available at all American Job Centers.

Information in this pamphlet will help you understand the unemployment compensation law, protect your rights, act in your own best interests, and prepare and present your appeal in the most effective manner. Please read this material carefully. If you have any questions, you may contact the Appeals Division.

This pamphlet was written so that all claimants would be able to understand the appeals process without the help of a lawyer. In a few places we have used technical terms because those terms may be used during the hearing, and you should become familiar with them. One term that is used throughout this pamphlet is "the Administrator." The Administrator is the State Labor Commissioner, who is in charge of the Unemployment Compensation Department. The terms "Administrator" and "Unemployment Compensation Department" mean the same thing in this pamphlet. The Appeals Division is separate and independent from the Unemployment Compensation Department and is not bound by any decision of the Administrator.

Appeals procedures are designed to carry out the unemployment compensation statutes and regulations. This pamphlet summarizes the law but does not have the force and effect of law. Copies of the statutes and regulations of both the Unemployment Compensation Department and the Appeals Division are available for inspection at all American Job Centers and Appeals Division offices.  They are also accessible on the Internet.  At these offices you may also consult the Appeals Division's Precedent Manual and electronic index (ADLIB), which contain major court and Board of Review decisions interpreting the Unemployment Compensation Act. Addresses, telephone numbers, and fax numbers of these offices, the local phone numbers for the Consumer Contact Centers, and the Appeals Division's  Internet address, are listed in the Listing of Appeals Division Offices and American Job Centers section of this guide.