Title 35A Utah Workforce Services Code
Chapter 4 Employment Security Act
Section 508 Review of decision or determination by division -- Administrative law judge -- Division of adjudication -- Workforce Appeals Board -- Judicial review by Court of Appeals -- Exclusive procedure.
35A-4-508. Review of decision or determination by division -- Administrative law
judge -- Division of adjudication -- Workforce Appeals Board -- Judicial review by Court
of Appeals -- Exclusive procedure.
(1) (a) A review of a decision or determination involving contribution liability or
applications for refund of contributions shall be made by the division in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter.
(b) The division in conducting the review may in its discretion:
(i) refer the matter to an administrative law judge;
(ii) decide the application for review on the basis of any facts and information as may be
obtained; or
(iii) hear argument or hold an informal hearing to secure further facts.
(c) After the review, notice of the decision shall be given to the employing unit.
(d) The decision made pursuant to the review is the final decision of the division unless,
within 10 days after the date of notification or mailing of the decision, a further appeal is initiated
under the provisions of this section.
(2) (a) Within 10 days after the mailing or personal delivery of a notice of a
determination or decision rendered following a review under Subsection (1), an employing unit
may appeal to the Division of Adjudication by filing a notice of appeal.
(b) The administrative law judge shall give notice of the pendency of the appeal to the
division and any parties entitled to notice as provided by department rule. The administrative
law judge shall receive into the record of the appeal any documents or other records provided by
the division, and may obtain or request any additional documents or records held by the division
or any of the parties that the administrative law judge considers relevant to a proper
determination of the appeal.
(c) After affording the parties reasonable opportunity for a fair hearing, the
administrative law judge shall make findings and conclusions and on that basis affirm, modify, or
reverse the determination of the division.
(d) The parties and the division shall be promptly notified of the administrative law
judge's decision and furnished a copy of the decision and findings.
(e) The decision of the administrative law judge is considered to be a final order of the
department unless within 30 days after the date the decision of the administrative law judge is
issued further appeal is initiated under this section and Chapter 1, Part 3, Adjudicative
Proceedings.
(3) (a) The director of the Division of Adjudication shall assign an impartial, salaried
administrative law judge selected in accordance with Subsection 35A-4-502(4)(a) to hear and
decide referrals or appeals relating to claims for benefits or to make decisions affecting
employing units under this chapter.
(b) All records on appeals shall be maintained in the offices of the Division of
Adjudication. The records shall include an appeal docket showing the receipt and disposition of
the appeals on review.
(4) The Workforce Appeals Board may review and decide an appeal from a decision of
an administrative law judge issued under this chapter.
(5) (a) The manner in which disputed matters are presented, the reports required from the
claimant and employing units, and the conduct of hearings and appeals shall be in accordance
with rules prescribed by the department for determining the rights of the parties, whether or not
the rules conform to common-law or statutory rules of evidence and other technical rules of
procedure.
(b) When the same or substantially similar evidence is relevant and material to the
matters in issue in more than one proceeding, the same time and place for considering each
matter may be fixed, hearings jointly conducted, a single record of the proceedings made, and
evidence introduced with respect to one proceeding considered as introduced in the others, if in
the judgment of the administrative law judge having jurisdiction of the proceedings, the
consolidation would not be prejudicial to any party.
(6) (a) Except for reconsideration of any determination under Subsection 35A-4-406(2),
any right, fact, or matter in issue, directly passed upon or necessarily involved in a determination
or redetermination that has become final, or in a decision on appeal under this section that has
become final, is conclusive for all the purposes of this chapter as between the division, the
claimant, and all employing units that had notice of the determination, redetermination, or
decision. Subject to appeal proceedings and judicial review as provided in this section, any
determination, redetermination, or decision as to rights to benefits is conclusive for all the
purposes of this chapter and is not subject to collateral attack by any employing unit, irrespective
of notice.
(b) Any findings of fact or law, judgment, conclusion, or final order made by an
unemployment insurance hearing officer, administrative law judge, or any person with the
authority to make findings of fact or law in any action or proceeding before the unemployment
insurance appeals tribunal, is not conclusive or binding in any separate or subsequent action or
proceeding, between an individual and the individual's present or prior employer, brought before
an arbitrator, court, or judge of this state or the United States, regardless of whether the prior
action was between the same or related parties or involved the same facts.
(7) (a) Any decision in the absence of an appeal as provided becomes final upon issuance
and judicial review may be permitted only after any party claiming to be aggrieved has exhausted
the party's remedies before the department as provided by this chapter.
(b) The division is a party to any judicial action involving any decisions and shall be
represented in the judicial action by any qualified attorney employed by the department and
designated by it for that purpose or at the division's request by the attorney general.
(8) (a) Within 30 days after the decision of the Workforce Appeals Board is issued, any
aggrieved party may secure judicial review by commencing an action in the court of appeals
against the Workforce Appeals Board for the review of its decision, in which action any other
party to the proceeding before the Workforce Appeals Board shall be made a defendant.
(b) In that action a petition, that shall state the grounds upon which a review is sought,
shall be served upon the Workforce Appeals Board or upon that person the Workforce Appeals
Board designates. This service is considered completed service on all parties but there shall be
left with the party served as many copies of the petition as there are defendants and the
Workforce Appeals Board shall mail one copy to each defendant.
(c) With its answer, the Workforce Appeals Board shall certify and file with the court all
documents and papers and a transcript of all testimony taken in the matter together with its
findings of fact and decision, in accordance with the requirements of the Utah Rules of Appellate
Procedure.
(d) The Workforce Appeals Board may certify to the court questions of law involved in
any decision by the board.
(e) In any judicial proceeding under this section, the findings of the Workforce Appeals
Board as to the facts, if supported by evidence, are conclusive and the jurisdiction of the court is
confined to questions of law.
(f) It is not necessary in any judicial proceeding under this section to enter exceptions to
the rulings of the division, an administrative law judge, Workforce Appeals Board and no bond is
required for entering the appeal.
(g) Upon final determination of the judicial proceeding, the division shall enter an order
in accordance with the determination. In no event may a petition for judicial review act as a
supersedeas.
(9) The procedure provided for hearings and decisions with respect to any decision or
determination of the division affecting claimants or employing units under this chapter is the sole
and exclusive procedure notwithstanding any other provision of this title.
Amended by Chapter 13, 1998 General Session
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