20 C.F.R. § 10.622 May a claimant withdraw a request for or postpone a hearing?
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) The claimant and/or representative may withdraw the hearing request at any time up to and including the day the hearing is held, or the decision issued. Withdrawing the hearing request means the record is returned to the jurisdiction of the district office and no further requests for a hearing on the underlying decision will be considered. (b) OWCP will entertain any reasonable request for scheduling the oral hearing, but such requests should be made at the time of the original application for hearing. Scheduling is at the sole discretion of the hearing representative, and is not reviewable. Once the oral hearing is scheduled and OWCP has mailed appropriate written notice to the claimant, the oral hearing cannot be postponed at the claimant's request for any reason except those stated in paragraph (c) of this section, unless the hearing representative can reschedule the hearing on the same docket (that is, during the same hearing trip). When the request to postpone a scheduled hearing does not meet the test of paragraph (c) of this section and cannot be accommodated on the docket, no further opportunity for an oral hearing will be provided. Instead, the hearing will take the form of a review of the written record and a decision issued accordingly. In the alternative, a teleconference may be substituted for the oral hearing at the discretion of the hearing representative. (c) Where the claimant is hospitalized for a reason which is not elective, or where the death of the claimant's parent, spouse, or child prevents attendance at the hearing, a postponement may be granted upon proper documentation.
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 10—CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION UNDER THE FEDERAL EMPLOYEES' COMPENSATION ACT, AS AMENDED
Subpart G—Appeals Process
Hearings
§ 10.622 May a claimant withdraw a request for or postpone a hearing?
