At this stage in your appeal for unemployment compensation benefits (“UC Benefits”), you have been before a Referee and the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (“UCBR”). Both have denied you benefits. You do have the right to appeal the UCBR decision further to the Commonwealth Court. When appealing further to the Commonwealth Court, you have to file a Petition for Review.

What is a Petition for Review?

A Petition for Review is basically a numbered or bulleted outline of how the UCBR erred in making its decision to deny your UC Benefits. You have to explain exactly how the UCBR erred. For example, say the UCBR states that it denied your UC Benefits because it found the Employer’s testimony to be more credible. In your Petition for Review, you could state, “the UCBR erred in finding the Employer’s testimony to be more credible.”

You also must include the date on which the UCBR issued its decision and the Board Decision Number (which can be found on the UCBR Decision you received in the mail). If you are filing pro se (i.e., without an attorney), you can generally request a Petition for Review Form from the State. Once the Commonwealth Court receives your Petition for Review, it will notify you whether or not it will accept your appeal.

What are the deadlines for filing a Petition for Review?

You must submit your Petition for Review within 30 days of the mailing date of the UCBR Decision. The UCBR Decision will not state when the last day to file your appeal is. It is important to remember to file before the 30-day deadline.

What are my other options besides filing a Petition for Review?

When you received your UCBR Decision, you have the right to file a Petition for Review with the Commonwealth Court. The second option is that you can ask the UCBR to reconsider its ruling. This is known as a Request for Reconsideration. You are basically asking the UCBR to reconsider the evidence and it’s ruling. You must make a Request for Reconsideration within 15 days of the mailing date of the UCBR decision.

The tricky part is that the Request for Reconsideration must be made within 15 days of the mailing date of the UCBR Decision while your Petition for Review must be sent to the Commonwealth Court within 30 days of the mailing date of the UCBR Decision. If you ask the UCBR for a Request for Reconsideration, the Board will likely not render a decision within the 30-day deadline to submit your Petition for Review to the Commonwealth Court. Therefore, if asking for a Request for Reconsideration, you should file your Petition for Review to the Commonwealth Court simultaneously with your Request for Reconsideration. Therefore, you don’t miss any deadlines and lose your opportunity to appeal to the Commonwealth Court if the UCBR denies your Request for Reconsideration.