Administrative Decisions and Adjudication
After you send us your claim for unemployment insurance, we will review it to determine your eligibility. At times, we might have only a few follow-up questions for you, and at other times, your claim might be complex or have issues that require us to do a thorough review known as adjudication.
During our review of your claim, we could determine that you are eligible for benefits, and you will then learn that you have been approved. It also is possible that we will determine that you are not eligible for benefits or that your benefits should be reduced or stopped. You might want to appeal such an administrative decision and request a hearing, which is your right. It also is possible that your employer will appeal an administrative decision we make about your claim.
This page provides more information about situations that might cause us to thoroughly investigate your claim or even to deny or reduce benefits, as well as your options for appealing an administrative decision we make.
Adjudication
While many issues can be resolved with quick follow-up questions, some situations require an adjudication process. During adjudication, we will gather information from you and any other source needed. If the issue is related to your most recent employment, we typically gather information from your employer as well. We review the available information, apply the laws and rules for unemployment insurance to your situation, and then make a decision.
When we become aware of issues that call into question whether someone can receive benefits, we are legally required to request more information. These situations include:
- Quitting a job
- Being fired or suspended from a job
- Being unable to work
- Being away from your permanent residence
- Attending school or training
- Being self-employed
- Being in jail
- Missing any work
- Turning down an offer of work
- Failing to actively seek work
- Receiving retirement pay (except Social Security)
- Failing to participate in a Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment interview
- Turning down a referral for work from WorkSource Oregon
- Failing to complete enrollment activities through your local WorkSource Oregon center
- Filing for weekly benefits during the summer, winter, or spring break periods or between terms if you’re an instructional or non-instructional educational employee
These situations will cause a stop on your claim until we make a decision to pay or deny benefits. You should continue to file weekly claims during any investigation of an issue on your claim to ensure you’re able to receive payment for those weeks, should the investigation result in a decision to pay benefits.
About the Adjudication Process
If your claim requires adjudication, an adjudicator may contact you via phone and mail. If you have a phone, make sure your voicemail is set up so that a caller from the Oregon Employment Department can leave a voice message.
Please respond to all letters and voice messages from the Oregon Employment Department. If you are not sure whether a communication came from us, and are concerned that some communication could be fraudulent, you may contact us for assistance.
We review claims in the order that we receive them, but complicated issues can require more time to review. It takes time to speak to all parties involved, gather the facts, apply the laws and make a fair decision about whether to allow or deny someone unemployment insurance benefits.
You should continue to file weekly claims during an investigation of your claim. If the investigation results in a decision to allow benefit payments, you will be paid for only the weeks when you claimed on time.
Denial of Benefits, and Your Right to Appeal Our Decision
If we reduce or deny your benefits, we will send you an administrative decision. If you disagree with the decision, you may appeal it by requesting a hearing. Your employer also may appeal an administrative decision.
Most decisions sent from the Employment Department include instructions for filing an appeal, as well as the deadline to request a hearing. If you do not file a timely appeal by the deadline provided, you might not be able to have the original administrative decision changed.
The best way to request a hearing is to use our Contact Us form. You also may request a hearing by mail, fax or phone. We will provide you with language interpretation and disability accommodations upon request for free. For more information on how to request a hearing, please visit our Appeals Process page.
When you send a written request through the U.S. Postal Service, specifically state that you’re requesting a hearing and include:
- Your Social Security number or your Customer Identification Number (CID).
- The Benefit Issue or the Letter ID number.
- The mailing date of the administrative decision you’re appealing
Please notify both the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) and the UI Center if your address or phone number changes after you request a hearing. More information about hearings and the appeals process is available from the the OAH page.
As is the case during investigations, you should continue to file weekly claims during the appeal process. If the appeal is decided in your favor, you will be paid only for those weeks you claimed on time.
Adjudication Explained
“Adjudication” is another way of saying a review or investigation. When we become aware of issues that call into question whether someone is eligible for benefits, we are legally required to request and review more information.
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When does adjudication begin?
After you send us your claim for benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Program, we will review it to determine your eligibility. Your claim might be complex or have issues that require us to do a thorough review. This is called adjudication.
During adjudication, we will gather information from you and any other source as needed. For example, if the issue is related to your most recent employment, we typically gather information from your former employer as well. We then review the available information, apply the laws and rules for unemployment insurance to your situation, and make a decision.
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Why is my claim being reviewed?
The Unemployment Insurance Program provides benefits to people who have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced through no fault of their own. People must be available for work, able to work, and actively seeking work every week to get benefits. If we learn that you may not meet these requirements, we must investigate the issue and decide if you are eligible for benefits.
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How long does the review take?
We review claims in the order that we receive them, but complicated issues can take more time to review. We need time to speak to all parties involved, gather the facts, apply the laws, and make a fair decision about whether to allow or deny benefits.
We know it can be difficult to wait for benefits while we conduct our review. Conducting a thorough review and getting all the facts helps us protect Oregonians from fraud and the stress of overpayments. Overpayments are when you receive benefits when you were not eligible for them, and you have to pay the money back.
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How will you contact me?
If your claim requires adjudication, an adjudicator – the person investigating your claim – may contact you via phone, mail, and email. We will not text you. If you have a phone, please answer the phone, even for unidentified numbers, and make sure your voicemail is set up so that a caller from the Oregon Employment Department can leave a voice message.
Please respond to all letters and voice messages from the Oregon Employment Department. If you are not sure if a communication came from us, or if you are concerned that some communication could be fraudulent, please contact us for assistance.
Make sure to update your address in Frances Online at frances.oregon.gov.
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What should I do now, and how can I speed up the review?
- Continue to file weekly claims during the review so that you can get credit for your weeks. If we decide you are eligible for benefit payments, you can only be paid for the weeks claimed on time. You cannot go back and claim them later.
- Please respond to any letter we send you. You may return the letter by mail or use the Contact Us form. The information we ask for varies. For example, we may ask you to:
- Clarify your employer’s information
- Report your weekly work searches
- Explain why you quit a job, were fired, or refused new work while claiming benefits • Provide information if you were unavailable or unable to work while claiming benefits
- Update your contact information
- If you have a phone, make sure your voicemail is set up so that a caller from the Oregon Employment Department can leave a voice message.
- Please respond to all letters and voice messages from the Oregon Employment Department. If you are not sure if a communication came from us, or if you are concerned that some communication could be fraudulent, please contact us for assistance. The easiest and fastest way to send us information is through our Contact Us form at unemployment.oregon.gov/contact.
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What if I disagree with the decision?
At the end of our review, we will decide if you are eligible for benefits or not. We will send you a decision either way. If you do not agree with the decision, you have the right to appeal it and request a hearing with an administrative law judge. Your employer also has the right to appeal the decision we make about your claim. If you decide to appeal, continue to claim benefits while you wait for the outcome of the hearing. We will send you the decision and it will have directions on how to appeal. You can learn more at unemployment.oregon.gov/appeals.
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What if I need help now?
You may qualify for other types of benefits, unrelated to unemployment insurance, such as paid family and medical leave, health coverage, or resources within your community.