Employment Appeals Board

Vision

Firm, Fast, Fair

Mission

The Employment Appeals Board’s mission is to ensure correct and consistent interpretation and application of Employment Department policy and state and federal laws at all three levels of the claims determination process.

Organization

The Oregon Legislative Assembly created the Employment Appeals Board (EAB) in the Employment Department in 1959 (ORS 657.685) to review contested unemployment insurance claims orders issued by what is now the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH).  Prior to 1959, Oregon’s unemployment and workers compensation programs were administered by a three-member commission acting in dual roles as the State Unemployment Compensation Commission (SUCC) and the State Industrial Accident Commission (SIAC).  The SUCC was responsible for reviewing contested orders on unemployment insurance claims.  EAB was created to assume that responsibility, simplify the appeal process, and speed resolution of contested cases.

EAB is a quasi-judicial agency of the Employment Department.  It consists of three board members, appointed by the Governor to four-year terms, three legal staff, and two office staff.  EAB issues between 1500 and 2000 decisions per year. Appeal from an EAB decision is to the Court of Appeals.

If the Oregon Employment Department issues notice of a decision denying or allowing benefits, either party - claimant or the employer - may request a hearing on that decision. The hearing is referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), who assigns an administrative law judge (ALJ) to conduct a telephone hearing, if the hearing request is timely.

After the ALJ issues an order, any party (including the Oregon Employment Department, who becomes a party to the case when a hearing request is filed), may file an application for review of the ALJ's order. The review is referred to the Employment Appeals Board, who reviews the evidence submitted in the proceeding before the assigned ALJ, and renders a decision.

The Employment Appeals Board does not conduct hearings. After the Employment Appeals Board issues its decision, any party who disagrees with the decision, including the Oregon Employment Department, may file a petition for judicial review with the Oregon Court of Appeals. A filing fee or fee waiver is required to file a petition for judicial review.

• ORS Chapter 183 (Administrative Procedures Act)
• OAR 137-003-0501 ("OAH Rules")
• ORS Chapter 657 (Unemployment Insurance)
• OAR 471 (Employment Department Rules)

English

• Application for Review
• Rights of Review of an Order​
• Written Argument Template​

Spanish

• Archivar una Aplicación para Revisión de Orden
• Derechos de revisión de una orden judicial​
  
• Presentar un Argumento por Escrito​

• ​Frequently Asked Questions​​
  

​​Please fill out the EAB Customer Service Survey.​

• ​​​​US Department of Labor Performance Measures
  USDOL requires State Workforce Agencies to collect and report data that USDOL then uses to measure, compare, and allocate funds for UI program administration, according to how well or poorly the state performs the most critical UI Program activities, which USDOL terms “Core Measures.”  Data measuring Higher Authority Appeals bodies like EAB are reported in quarterly Benefits Timeliness and Quality (BTQ) Reports.
  
  The Core Measure for Higher Authority Appeals is timeliness, which until 2005 was measured by the “time lapse” standard (sometimes referred to as “promptness” or “completion rate”), which is the days from filing to issuance of a higher authority decision.  
  
  Since 2005, timeliness has been measured by the average age of pending single-claimant UI cases (sometimes referred to as “regular UI cases”), which is the sum of the ages, in days from filing, of all of the higher authority’s pending single-claimant UI cases, divided by the number of its single-claimant UI cases.   
  
  All timeliness measures are based on universe data from automated records, instead of samples. ​​​
  
  
• ​Oregon Annual Performance Progress Reports
  Annual Performance Progress Reports (APPRs) are required of state agencies to report progress toward their mission and goals.  On September 30 of each year, Oregon’s state agencies report their progress using Key Performance Measures (KPMs) based on data from the fiscal year ending June 30.  KPMs are an accountability tool.  They are intended to reflect outcomes – the highest level, most result-oriented indication of the agency’s affect on the citizens it serves.  
  

• ​Unemployment Insurance Reports