By John Naylor
The Employment Security Division (“ESD”), a division of the Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (“DETR”), has denied unemployment benefits to your client. What do you do next? This article presents a brief overview of the appeals process.
The initial appeal
Begin by submitting a notice of appeal within 11 days of the date of the decision. See NRS 612.495(1), NRS 612.495(2). The notice should state the grounds for the appeal. See NAC 612.222.
The ESD will notice the hearing at least seven days beforehand. See NAC 612.225(1). Advise your client to check the mail and their online ESD account regularly because counsel does not always receive notice. The notice identifies the specific statutory or regulatory provisions involved Id.; see also NAC 235B.121(2).
ESD will post the record, known as the “appeal packet,” to the client’s online account just before the hearing. Have your client download it immediately because the ESD will remove it after the hearing.
Conduct of the hearing
Hearing procedures are at NAC 612.222 to 612.235 and NAC 612.225 to 612.235. Helpful resources include DETR’s Appeals Handbook, which is available online (detrnv.gov/content/media/Appeals_Handbook (accessed Sept. 30, 2026)) and A Guide to Unemployment Insurance Benefit Appeals Principles and Procedures, published by the U.S. Department of Labor online (oui.doleta.gov/dmstree/pl/yellow_book.pdf (accessed Sep. 30, 2026)). DETR uses these to train referees (See Record Request to DETR No. 2077 (Jan. 20, 2026)).
Hearings are telephonic and involve three parties: (i) the hearing referee; (ii) the employer; and (iii) the claimant. Hearings are recorded but not reported. See NAC 512.228. Generally, the referee makes introductory remarks, swears in the witnesses, and examines them. The parties then have an opportunity to examine the witnesses. The referee typically follows a script that counsel can obtain from DETR through a records request (Record Request to DETR No. 2077 (Jan. 20, 2026)). The referee acts as both the investigator and the trier of fact (See NRS 612.500, NAC 612.228).
Unlike in court, a corporate employer may represent itself. See NAC 612.228. Corporate employers have retained non-attorney third parties to represent them, and these non-attorneys argue and examine witnesses. These activities constitute the practice of law. See In the Matter of Discipline of Glen Lerner, 124 Nev. 1232, 197 P.3d 1067 (2008), and 87-9 Op. Att’y Gen. (1987). The practice appears to rest on NAC 612.228(1), which allows an “authorized agent” to represent parties. The question is whether an agency can, by rule, allow a non-lawyer to practice law. See Clark County Public Employees Association v. Clark County, Case No. A1-045521, Decl. Order (Dec. 1, 1992) (case before the Nevada Local Government Employee-Management Relations Board finding that agencies cannot authorize non-lawyers to practice law absent specific statutory authority). The issue does not appear ever to have been tested, and counsel should consider raising it.
Appeal to the board of review
Have your client check their online account frequently for a decision. The next step is a Request for Appeal to the Board of Review under NAC 612.238, and the deadline is 11 days. Counsel should state the grounds for the appeal, keeping in mind that a transcript of the hearing will not be part of the record at this stage. The board may affirm, reject, or modify the decision, and may elect not to hear the appeal at all. See NRS 612.510; see also NAC 612.235-612.252 (board procedures).
The petition for judicial review
If you disagree with the board’s decision, the next step is an action for judicial review in district court. The board’s decision becomes final 11 days after it is sent by electronic transmission or mail (See NRS 612.525(1)), and the action must be commenced within 11 days after that, in the district court of the county where the claimant worked. See NRS 612.530(1). Counsel, therefore, has 22 days from the date the decision was sent. The petition must state the grounds for review and be served within 45 days after the action is commenced. See NRS 612.530(2). NRS 612.530 contains lengthy and complicated rules on who must be served and how service is to be accomplished. Those rules are beyond the scope of this article and seem designed to trip up claimants. Counsel should be fully familiar with them before proceeding.
Conclusion
The rules regarding appeals contain many traps for the unwary. While this article contains a brief overview of the process, counsel should be fully familiar with NRS 612.470 to 612.533 and NAC 612.222 to 612.252 when proceeding.
This articles was originally published in the Communique by Clark County Bar Association. To read the full article, visit clarkcountybar.org.
