Certificate
STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION DIVISION OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS | }ss |
I, Brian K. Hayes, Administrator of the Division of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Administration, and custodian of the official records, certify that the attached rules, relating to rules of procedure for adjudication of worker’s compensation and related claims in Wis. Admin. Code ch. HA 4, were duly approved and adopted by this division on June 6, 2019.
I further certify that I have compared the attached copy with the signed original on file in this division and that it is a true and complete copy of the original.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereuntoset my hand and affixed the official seal of the Department of Administration, Division of Hearings and Appeals at the Hill Farms State Office Building, 4822 Madison Yards Way, in the city of Madison, this 6th day of June, 2019.
________________________________________
Brian K. Hayes
Administrator, Division of Hearings and Appeals
Department of Administration
(Seal)
STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISRTATION
DIVISION OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS
IN THE MATTER OF RULEMAKING PROCEEDINGS BEFORE DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISRATION, DIVISION OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS | ORDER OF DEPARMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, DIVISION OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS, ADOPTING RULES (CLEARINGHOUSE RULE 18-059) |
ORDER ADOPTING RULES
The Department of Administration, Division of Hearings and Appeals hereby adopts an order to: renumber and amend HA 4.15 (1) to (6); amend HA 4.04 (1) and (2), 4.07, 4.0§8 (2), (3), and (4), 4.11 (1) and (2) (intro.), (a), and (b), 4.13 (intro.), (1), and (3), 4.15 (title), 4.16, and 4.17, and create HA 4.01, 4.02, 4.03 and 4.03 (Note), 4.04 (3), (4), and (5), 4.05, 4.06, 4.09, 4.14, 4.15(1), and 4.18, relating to rules of procedure for adjudication of worker’s compensation and related claims. The scope statement for this rule, SS 052-18, was approved by the Governor on May 14, 2018, published in Register No. 749A3 on May 21, 2018, and approved by the Administrator of the Division of Hearings and Appeals in the Department of Administration on June 5, 2018. Analysis by the Department of Administration, Division of Hearings and Appeals
Statutes interpreted: None
Explanation of agency authority:
“(2) In this chapter: … (ar) ‘Division’ means the division of hearings and appeals [DHA] in the department of administration.”
“(1) Subject to this chapter, the division [DHA] may adopt its own rules of procedure and may change the same from time to time.
102.15(2) “(2) The division [DHA] may provide by rule the conditions under which transcripts of testimony and proceedings shall be furnished.” “The division [DHA] may, by rule, establish the qualifications of and the form used for certified reports submitted by experts who provide information concerning loss of earning capacity under s. 102.44 (2) and (3)…” “Any division … attached under this section to a department or independent agency or a specified division thereof shall be a distinct unit of that department, independent agency or specified division. Any division, … so attached shall exercise its powers, duties and functions prescribed by law, including rule making, licensing and regulation, and operational planning within the area of program responsibility of the division …”
“15.103(1)(1) Division of hearings and appeals. There is created a division of hearings and appeals which is attached to the department of administration under s. 15.03. …” “(2) Rule-making authority is expressly conferred on an agency as follows: … 227.11(2)(a) (b) Each agency may prescribe forms and procedures in connection with any statute enforced or administered by it, if the agency considers it necessary to effectuate the purpose of the statute, but this paragraph does not authorize the imposition of a substantive requirement in connection with a form or procedure.” Related statute or rule: Wis. Stat. § 102.15(1) and (2); Wis. Admin. Code, ss. DWD ch. 80. Plain language analysis: 2015 Wisconsin Act 55 (Act 55) transferred the adjudication of disputed worker’s compensation claims and related claims from the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to the Division of Hearings and Appeals (DHA) in the Department of Administration and authorized DHA to adopt its own rules of procedure. Act 55 also provided for the direct transfer to DHA of rules in Wis. Admin. Code, ch. DWD 80 that were primarily related to adjudicatory functions, and those rules are currently in Wis. Admin. Code, ch. HA 4. This proposed rule order brings HA 4 in compliance with the requirments of Act 55. It makes technical changes necessitated by the transfer of rules under Act 55, including adding non-substantive provisions regarding the statutory authority for the transferred rules, the manner which forms, papers and materials may be served on DHA, and the use of stipulations in adjudicatory proceedings before DHA. It states that substantive rules promulgated by DWD apply in the adjudication of disputes before DHA and incorporates by reference DWD rules governing review of compromises and the inspection and copying of records. It also adds provisions codifying DHA’s current procedures for managing its caseload in the adjudication of disputed worker’s compensation and related claims, including its current practice for mediation in worker’s compensation claims after a hearing application has been filed. It also makes a number of stylistic changes to the transferred rules.
