20 C.F.R. Subpart H—Hearings by the Office of Administrative Law Judges
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
(a) The jurisdiction of the Office of the Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) extends only to those complainants identified in sections 141(c), 144(d), 164(f), and 166(a) of the Act. (b) Actions arising under section 167 of the Act shall be handled under 29 CFR part 34. (c) All other disputes arising under the Act shall be adjudicated under the appropriate recipient or subrecipient grievance procedures or other applicable law. (a) Within 21 days of receipt of a final determination imposing a sanction or corrective action or denying financial assistance, the applicant, the recipient, the SDA, the SSG, or other subrecipient, or a vendor against which the Grant Officer has imposed a sanction or corrective action may appeal the Grant Officer's determination to the OALJ. A request for a hearing shall be transmitted by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Chief Administrative Law Judge, U.S. Department of Labor, 800 K Street, NW., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20001, with one copy to the departmental official who issued the determination. (b) The 21-day filing requirement in paragraph (a) of this section is jurisdictional. Failure to timely request a hearing acts as a waiver of the right to hearing. (c) A request for a hearing under this section shall state specifically those issues of the final determination upon which review is requested. Those provisions of the final determination not specified for review, or the entire final determination when no hearing has been requested within the 21 days, shall be considered resolved and not subject to further review. Only alleged violations of the Act, regulations promulgated thereunder, grant or other agreement under the Act fairly raised in the determination and the request for hearing are subject to review. (d) The procedures set forth in this subpart apply in the case of a complainant who has not had a dispute adjudicated under the alternative dispute resolution process set forth in §627.805 of this part within 60 days, except that the request for hearing before the OALJ must be filed within 15 days of the conclusion of the 60-day period. In addition to including the final determination upon which review is requested, the complainant shall include a copy of any Stipulation of Facts and a brief summary of proceedings. (a) The rules of practice and procedure promulgated by the OALJ, at subpart A of 29 CFR part 18, shall govern the conduct of hearings under this section, except that a request for hearing under this section shall not be considered a complaint to which the filing of an answer by DOL or a DOL agency or official is required. Technical rules of evidence shall not apply to hearings conducted pursuant to this part; however, rules or principles designed to assure production of the most credible evidence available and to subject testimony to cross-examination shall apply. (b) Prehearing procedures. In all cases, the ALJ should encourage the use of prehearing procedures to simplify and to clarify facts and issues. (c) Subpoenas. Subpoenas necessary to secure the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents or things at hearings shall be obtained from the ALJ and shall be issued pursuant to the authority contained in section 163(b) of the Act, incorporating 15 U.S.C. 49. (d) Timely submission of evidence. The ALJ shall not permit the introduction at the hearing of any documentation if such documentation has not been made available for review by the other parties to the proceeding either at the time ordered for any prehearing conference, or, in the absence of such an order, at least 3 weeks prior to the hearing date. (e) Burden of production. The Grant Officer shall have the burden of production to support her or his decision. To this end, the Grant Officer shall prepare and file an administrative file in support of the decision which shall be made part of the record. Thereafter, the party or parties seeking to overturn the Grant Officer's decision shall have the burden of persuasion. In ordering relief, the ALJ shall have the full authority of the Secretary under section 164 of the Act. The ALJ should render a written decision not later than 90 days after the closing of the record. (a) Parties to a complaint under §627.801 of this part, Procedures for filing a request for hearing, may choose to waive their rights to an administrative hearing before the OALJ by choosing to transfer the settlement of their dispute to an individual acceptable to all parties for the purpose of conducting an informal review of the stipulated facts and rendering a decision in accordance with applicable law. A written decision will be issued within 60 days after the matter is submitted for informal review. (b) The waiver of the right to request a hearing before the OALJ may be revoked if a settlement has not been reached or a decision has not been issued within the 60 days provided in paragraph (a) of this section. (c) The decision rendered under this informal review process shall be treated as a final decision of an Administrative Law Judge pursuant to section 166(b) of the Act. Nothing contained in this subpart shall be deemed to prejudice the separate exercise of other legal rights in pursuit of remedies and sanctions available outside the Act.
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 627—GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING PROGRAMS UNDER TITLES I, II, AND III OF THE ACT
Subpart H—Hearings by the Office of Administrative Law Judges
§ 627.800 Scope and purpose.
§ 627.801 Procedures for filing request for hearing.
§ 627.802 Rules of procedure.
§ 627.803 Relief.
§ 627.804 Timing of decisions.
§ 627.805 Alternative dispute resolution.
§ 627.806 Other authority.
