Hearing Officer Handbook
DEPARTMENTAL POLICIES
- Depending upon the location and needs of the department, Hearing Officers
may work a variety of flexible schedules. Any schedule must be made with
the approval of the Hearing Officer's immediate supervisor. Office hours
may be changed but only with the supervisor's approval, and with the understanding
that any such change will be implemented without disrupting the scheduling
of hearings.
- All employees are expected to work their normal 40 hours per week or take
approved leave. On occasion, overtime approved by supervision may be necessary.
Employees will be notified any time overtime is required. No employees will
be permitted to work over their scheduled 40 hours per week without prior
supervisory approval subject to exceptions authorized in writing by the
Chief of Appeals. Compliance with the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) is mandatory. Any violation of the agency's overtime policy may
result in disciplinary action, including possible discharge.
- With the exception of supervisory personnel, all employees in the department
are considered to be non-exempt employees for FLSA purposes. Any overtime
worked will be compensated for by time and half pay or by time and half
compensatory leave. Appeals Department Management will determine the method
of overtime compensation to be applied. Any requests that overtime be compensated
one way rather than the other must be submitted to an employee's immediate
supervisor.
- For any week in which overtime has been worked, the time must be properly
keyed and reported in Elvis and the TWC time tracking system.
- In times of high caseload, it may be necessary to require mandatory overtime.
During weeks in which such overtime is required, Hearing Officers will be
entitled to work and claim up to five hours of overtime as required by their
assigned work, with no additional approval from supervision required. If
a Hearing Officer requires more than five overtime hours to handle the workload
assigned during an overtime week, additional overtime may be worked, and
overtime credit earned, but only with prior supervisory approval.
If a Hearing Officer stays current on all hearings and decisions, and does
not require the full 45 hours to accomplish this in a given overtime week,
the Hearing Officer cannot claim overtime beyond what was necessary and
actually worked.
- If a hearing runs into the Hearing Officer's lunch period or runs past
the time the Hearing Officer would customarily leave work for the day, the
Hearing Officer may proceed to finish the hearing if the hearing can be
concluded by occupying no more than half of the Hearing Officer's lunch
period or by extending the hearing no later than one half hour past the
Hearing Officer's normal departure time. These will be the only circumstances
in which overtime may be earned without prior supervisory approval. Accounting
for Hearing Officer overtime will take account of each Hearing Officer's
particular, customary work hours. Under no circumstances absent prior
supervisory approval should a Hearing Officer permit a hearing to run more
than halfway into the Hearing Officer's lunch period or one half hour past
the Hearing Officer's normal departure time.
- Whenever a hearing extends into a Hearing Officer's lunch period or beyond
the Hearing Officer's customary quitting time, the Hearing Officer must
report the matter to his or her immediate supervisor as soon as possible
after the hearing. If possible, the Hearing Officer should account for such
extra work time by leaving work early on some other day (most probably Friday)
within the same workweek in order to assure that the Hearing Officer will
not work more than 40 hours that week. The Hearing Officer's supervisor
will have the authority to direct the Hearing Officer to take such an early
departure in order to avoid overtime accrual. When this is done, the compensatory
time off will be "straight" time; that is, time off exactly corresponding
to the "extra" time already worked that same week. If the time cannot be
taken off the same week, the Hearing Officer's immediate supervisor must
be certain that the overtime is formally and accurately recorded.
- The only type of overtime which may be accrued in the Appeals Department
without clear prior supervisory approval in the individual case will be
extra time devoted to concluding a hearing, as discussed in preceding paragraphs.
Employees working at home during their scheduled work hours will be considered
to be "on premises". Any employee who engages in any work outside
customary working hours without proper prior supervisory approval (subject
to the exceptions noted here) will be subject to immediate disciplinary
action, including possible dismissal, although they will be entitled to
credit for any overtime worked in violation of policy. Furthermore, all
Appeals Department employees must avoid any such work and unless authorized
to work at home, refrain from taking any work materials home as our agency
will adopt a policy of strict enforcement of the Wage and Hour Administration's
understanding with our agency as to compensable overtime.
- Any Appeals Department personnel who are unable to report to work at their
regularly scheduled time, should provide as much advance notice as possible,
but no later than the scheduled report time absent some extremely compelling
circumstance. Unless specifically authorized by your supervisor, notice
must be given to your immediate supervisor, not a co-worker or non-supervisory
personnel. If your supervisor is not available, you should provide notice
to another supervisor who is available. A Hearing Officer calling to report
absence should be prepared to notify the supervisor of the location of the
folders for that day and any critical information regarding the hearings.
The leaving of voice mail messages or sending of e-mails is not deemed proper
notice of absence.
- All employees accrue both vacation leave and sick leave each month. The
amount of vacation leave accrual is based on longevity; sick leave is accrued
at 8 hours per month for full time employees.
- Sick leave may be used as needed from the beginning of an employee's date
of hire. Vacation leave may be requested only after an employee has had
continuous state employment for 6 months.
- Compensatory leave that has been accrued may be taken at any time with
prior supervisory approval.
- Requests for leave should be given to the employee's supervisor for approval
as soon as possible. Because of the nature of the scheduling of hearings,
Hearing Officers should provide approximately 3 weeks advance notice for
any leave requests. If a hearing schedule has already been set, the leave
request may be denied. Once scheduled, a Hearing Officer should give a compelling
reason if requesting leave.
- The following will be the Appeals Department's general policy regarding
vacation leave approval:
- There will be no limit to the number of employees who will be approved
for vacation leave on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving and during the
period from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day; however, it will be
necessary to retain a skeleton crew (as defined by departmental supervision)
on duty on any day which is not a state holiday. This last restriction
will not apply to the smallest Appeals locations.
- Requests for vacation leave should not be submitted more than six months
in advance.
- During any given week outside the holiday periods described in the 5(a)
paragraph above, the Chief of Appeals will designate the maximum number
of Hearing Officers statewide who will be approved for vacation leave;
vacation leave approval decisions for other positions, including notice
writers, will be made on a week to week basis as needed in light of the
department's workload.
- All vacation leave requests must be filed initially with the requesting
employee's immediate supervisor. This should be done as soon as possible
as we will continue to generally follow the practice of "first come, first
served" approval.
- Any employee who has had vacation leave approval for a specific period
of time but who wishes, at the eleventh hour, to change their plans and
report for duty will be permitted to do this only if adequate work can
be assigned for the period in question. Otherwise, they may be compelled
to remain in vacation leave status for that period. This situation may
apply to Hearing Officers more than any other group.
- The Chief of Appeals has the authority to grant exceptions to any of
the above.
- Appeals Department management has the authority to impose greater limitations
as to any given period if needed or to amend any or all aspects of the
above policy; any such changes will, however, take account of vacation
leave already approved.
- While the Appeals Department does not have a formal written dress code, business/professional attire or dressy casual attire is appropriate. If a hearing should be conducted in-person, a business suit or similar attire is appropriate. Employees should refrain from excessively casual or unkempt attire. Jeans, tennis shoes, T-shirts, and shorts should not be considered for daily wear. On occasions, Appeals management may allow a "dress-down" day in which jeans, tennis shoes, and T-shirts may be worn. Any exception to the dress code must be approved by the Chief of Appeals.
- All Appeals Department personnel will have access to electronic mail through
Outlook. Employees should check their E-Mail once or twice each day to pick
up any messages they may have received. Hearing Officers should also use
E-Mail to notify the scheduler in Austin of any postponements, continuances,
or resets of cases. Employees are expected to comply with any supervisory
directives sent to them by e-mail.
- Our agency's Administration has reiterated the importance of restricting our placing of long distance telephone calls to those required for business purposes only. This is particularly important in the Appeals Department as we are responsible for the largest volume of such business calls. Any placing of long distance calls for personal reasons are to be avoided; any such calls made inadvertently must be reported to the employee's immediate supervisor. Improper telephone usage, particularly where a pattern of such impropriety is indicated, may not only require restitution; it may also warrant disciplinary action including possible discharge.
- The Agency currently pays Texas State Bar Association annual dues for
any actively licensed attorney working for the Agency. Any additional bar
dues must be paid by the employee.
- State employees are exempt from paying occupational tax. If such tax was
paid prior to beginning work with the agency, the tax may be prorated.
- State law provides that employees shall be allowed sufficient time off
to vote in statewide elections, without deduction from pay or accrued
leave. Such time will not exceed ONE hour and must be scheduled by each
employee's immediate supervisor so as not to interfere with office operations.
Employees not voting or voting outside regular office hours will not receive
time off or compensatory time.
- Hearing Officers may be allowed to attend continuing education (CLE) during
work hours if properly authorized in advance. As a general rule, the department
does not pay the costs, such as registration, of the activity. Any requests
must be submitted to the employee's immediate supervisor on an appeals departmental
request form along with the agenda of the activity. It must be approved
by the Chief of Appeals in advance.
- The agency has three levels of achievement: Outstanding (O), Proficient
(P), and Unsatisfactory (U). Performance falling within the designated range
for each job assignment is represented by the level "Proficient."
- Each Hearing Officer will be reviewed twice each year: a semi-annual review
and an annual review due the month following the Hearing Officer's longevity
(LGD) month.
- All Hearing Officers will be evaluated on three regular job assignments:
(a) Primary Job Duty - quality appraisal of hearings and
decisions based on twelve randomly selected cases, (b) Secondary Job
Duty - timeliness of decision dictation, and (c) Secondary
Job Duty - accuracy of mailed decisions.
- The quality appraisal is based on the performance criteria found in Sections
800 and 801
of the Hearing Officer Handbook. Twelve cases will be reviewed annually.
The lowest score of the twelve will be dropped at the time of the annual
review; the remainder will be averaged to derive the score.
- The timeliness of decision dictation is measured by the percentage of
cases dictated within three business days of the last hearing. "Date
dictated" means (1) for Stand-Alone Hearing Officers, the date the
Hearing Officer clicks the “Mail Final Decision” button in the
Hearing Officer Case Management (HOCM) System. (2) for cases types by stenographers,
the date the decision is received by the steno for typing. "Three business
days" is defined as the 72 work hours immediately following the end
of the work day on which the Hearing Officer held the hearing. If the Hearing
Officer misses work due to illness on the third day, this period is tolled
to the next day the Hearing Officer is at work.
- The accuracy of mailed decisions is measured by the percentage of mailed
decisions which were sufficiently correct to implement the decision as written
and which dispose of all necessary issues.
Hearing Officers are also evaluated by the supervisor on the following "core
dimensions" of job performance: quality customer service, teamwork, communication,
flexibility/adaptability, and initiative/innovation. The items listed are
to help supervisors in making their assessments under each core dimension.
However, supervisors may use other valid related factors in grading core dimensions.
Quality Customer Service (Both internal and external customers)
Proficient
Returns calls promptly and courteously;
Fills out contact report forms;
Forwards reasonably foreseeable agency exhibits to parties in a timely
manner;
Handles hearing documents properly;
Gives proper notice to expert witnesses;
Starts hearings as scheduled;
Conducts hearings in a business-like manner;
Issues correct decisions in a timely manner;
Is courteous and tactful with parties, the public and agency personnel;
Properly handles address changes;
Forwards new issues to the appropriate department; and
Complies with supervisory directives in a timely manner.
Notifies hearing scheduler promtly to reset postponed and continued hearings.
Outstanding
Directs clients to other sources when necessary; and
Does other TWC work outside scope of normal duties.
Consistently follows important hearing procedures designed to fully develop
the record, including, but not limited to due process issues, witnesses,
and document handling.
Issues decisions in a timely manner with no decision being delayed significantly
without a compelling reason.
NOTE: If a Hearing Officer is doing well in other core dimensions or job
duties, that will carry over to the quality customer service core dimension
as well.
Teamwork
Proficient
Is aware of work's impact on others (clerical support staff, business manager,
etc.);
Timely submits reports and forms (status reports, time sheets, etc.);
Holds hearings for others (e.g., sick HO, other HO has long hearing, other
HO has temporary decision dictation backlog, etc.);
Develops and maintains effective work relationships; and
Communicates and acts in a professional and courteous manner.
Promptly and accurately keys leave requests and certifies time sheet in
CHAPS.
Responds promptly to inquiries from supervisors and other appeals personnel.
Outstanding
Develops a buddy system to proof decisions and answer calls when possible;
Trains new HO's; and
Routinely answers questions from other HO's.
Readily accepts the more difficult cases involving more complex issues.
Volunteers to perform other Appeals Department work-related tasks outside
of normal duties to assist the appeals department.
Communication
Proficient
Communicates with parties, coworkers, and supervisors in a clear, polite,
professional, and understandable manner. Does not use slang, legalese, or
abbreviations not commonly understood when conversing with the public or
in business correspondence, including Appeal Tribunal decisions, e-mails;
Listens to and clarifies ideas and views of others;
Seeks clarification of rules, policies, or procedures from supervisor if
HO does not understand.
Follows the proper chain of command in communicating with others.
Follows Commission guidelines when drafting external and internal correspondence.
Returns phone calls and responds to e-mails promptly.
Provides factual and appropriate information to the public.
Outstanding
Explains completely rules and policies in response to inquiries;
Writes messages/notes/decisions that are clear, concise, and understandable;
Consults with supervisor prior to hearing on unusual or difficult issues
and cases;
Alerts appropriate personnel of problems (e.g., problems with phones or
irate party).
Refers parties to other resources as needed.
Initiative/Innovation
Proficient
Does job well and exercises independent decision making. In this core dimension,
if the Hearing Officer is doing the every day duties at least at a proficient
level, then the level for this dimension will be proficient.
Initiates investigations of other U.I. issues when appropriate.
Outstanding
Conducts hearings for late-calling appellant when non-appellant has not
appeared or has not been dismissed, and hearing does not adversely impact
other scheduled hearings.
Volunteers willingly for projects, special programs, grievances, etc.
Cross trains in other areas of the Appeals Department;
Volunteers for difficult cases;
Takes initiative to acquire skills and knowledge to increase value to the
Appeals Department;
Helps out in other areas when needed:
Develops procedures to help do work (e.g., form decisions, tables, glossary
for SHOs);
Submits new ideas/proposals that may help the overall missions of the Appeals
Department. Submit new ideas to your immediate supervisor either by E-mail
or mail.
Uses extra time when the schedule permits to read and study the TUCA,
Rules, precedents, and appeals directives to become more familiar with them.
Flexibility/Adaptability
Proficient
Accepts new tasks or procedures willingly.
Is eager to learn to use new equipment or computer software used in appeals.
Readily accepts departmental changes and does not persist in obsolete methods,
procedures, and attitudes.
Outstanding
Conducts hearing after overcoming technical problems;
Is versatile with changing customer needs (e.g., holds 1-party hearing
other than when scheduled)
Readily acquires needed skills, knowledge, and techniques (e.g. reads special
program manuals, takes extra CBT courses for job, etc.).
The final component of the performance appraisal is whether the Hearing Officer
has complied with agency policy and procedures.
- Because the Hearing Officer's handling of assigned cases as measured by
quality appraisal case review is considered the primary job duty, that score
is weighted most heavily in determining the overall performance rating.
- If a Hearing Officer scores an "Unsatisfactory" level on any job duty or
core dimension, a written employee improvement plan will be implemented to
help the employee improve his/her level of performance during the subsequent
six month period. If no improvement in job performance is made during that
period, the Hearing Officer may be subject to disciplinary action up to, and
including termination.
- Below are the required levels of Hearing Officer performance:
CASE REVIEW
- Hearing Officer I
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 80% or has more than
two retained cases scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 80% to 84.99% with no more than
two retained cases scoring under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 85% or more with no more than two
retained cases scoring under 80%.
- Hearing Officer II
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 85% or has more than
one retained case scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 85% to 89.99% with no more than
one retained case scoring under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 90% or more with no more than one
retained case scoring under 80%.
- Hearing Officer III
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 90% or has any one retained case
scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 90% to 95.99% and no retained cases scoring
under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 96% or more with no retained
cases scoring under 80%.
NOTE: The following standards apply to all Hearing
Officers.
TIMELINESS OF DECISION DICTATION
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than 90% of decisions dictated within
three days of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.
Proficient: Score 90% to 94.9% of decisions dictated within three
days of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.
Outstanding: Score of 95% or more of decisions dictated within three days
of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.
ACCURACY OF MAILED DECISIONS
Unsatisfactory: Score of less than 98% of mailed decisions are sufficiently
accurate to be implemented as written.
Proficient: 98 to 98.99% of mailed decisions are sufficiently accurate
to be implemented as written.
Outstanding: Score of 99% or more of mailed decisions are sufficiently
accurate to be implemented as written.
905 EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIES
- All Hearing Officers will receive their initial equipment from the Appeals
Department's business manager in the state office or their Cost Center manager.
For any additional equipment or replacement equipment, Hearing Officers
should contact the business manager or Cost Center manager. Employees should
maintain their equipment in good working condition. Other equipment should
not be taken for use unless specifically authorized by the business manager
or Cost Center manager.
- If a recorder or fax machine needs to be repaired, the business manager
or Cost Center manager should be consulted to determine whether it should
be repaired or placed.
- If a PC, monitor, or printer needs repair, notify the Help Desk of the
Data Processing Department of the agency. The Appeals Department’s
technical support person should be consulted first for assistance before
calling in the repair. It is not necessary to contact the business manager.
However, the supervisor should be advised of the problem so arrangements
can be made to keep the Hearing Officer working until the repair is completed.
- Although recordings are now web based, each Hearing Officer needs to
keep a supply of tapes for backup in case the internet is not available.
Cassette tapes will be furnished by the State Office. Any tapes being reused
should be erased prior to use. Due to the marginal quality of some tapes
received by the state, Hearing Officers should always check the tape to
ensure it is recording properly.
- While it is not required to shred all paperwork having to do with cases,
Hearing Officers should shred any paperwork they are not keeping that has
to do with their own personnel activities.
- When setting up a conference call for two or more parties, the Hearing
Officer should use the web based recording system (Clear2There). Instructions
on how to set up the conference may be obtained from a Hearing Officer's
immediate supervisor or senior Hearing Officers.
- Because of occasional problems with the internet conferencing system,
it is sometimes difficult to conduct some hearings. When it is evident that
the inability to conduct a hearing is because of the internet conferencing
system, the Hearing Officer should try to conduct the hearing by setting
up a conference call using the SBC conferencing system.
- Any time there are problems with the conferencing system, the Hearing
Officer should notify his or her immediate supervisor so that they may look
into the matter. Depending upon the nature of the problem, the Hearing Officer
will be given instructions on how to deal with the problem.
906 FORMS
- The weekly status report should reflect all assigned cases in which the
hearing has been conducted, at least in part, but a dictated decision has
not yet been delivered to clerical support for typing (or, in the case of
a Stand-Alone Hearing Officer, a typed and signed decision has not been
delivered to support staff for mailing). Examples include cases which have
been continued for further testimony. A further example is a case which
may have been heard in part but the Hearing Officer is awaiting receipt
of documents from one of the parties with the intention of reopening the
hearing. Yet another example would be a case in which the hearing was postponed
and the Hearing Officer has retained the file awaiting reset. An undecided
case should not simply be reported on the first weekly status report following
the hearing; it should be reported on each succeeding weekly status report
until the dictation or decision is delivered to support staff as described
above. Stand-Alone Hearing Officers who work at home and mail their own
decisions should record a case on their weekly status reports until a decision
has been mailed.
It is not necessary to list cases canceled due to Hearing Officer illness.
The primary purposes of the weekly status report are to keep the Hearing
Officer continually reminded of the cases that are pending and to give supervisors
immediate information on developing backlogs.
- Whenever a Hearing Officer talks with parties or their representatives
outside the scheduled hearing, he or she should complete a party contact
form for the file. This most frequently occurs with subpoena requests and
requests for postponements. Such information will be helpful if rulings
on the issue of good cause to reopen must be made. Such information may
also help a Hearing Officer if a party later files a complaint based on
an alleged contact with the Hearing Officer. Hearing Officers can get party
contact forms from their supervisor or a senior Hearing Officer.
- Leave should be requested in CHAPS prior to any requested leave. In the
case of unanticipated sick leave, the leave should be keyed as soon as possible
upon the employee's return. If leave carries over into a new month, a leave
request should be keyed for each month. If leave is taken during the last
five days of a month, the Hearing Officer's immediate supervisor should
notify the business manager immediately, and the Hearing Officer key leave
as quickly as possible. It may be necessary for the supervisor to key the
leave if the employee is absent.
- Any time there are subpoenaed witnesses, the Hearing Officer will receive
a Witness Certification with the file copy of the subpoena. For telephone
hearings, the Hearing Officer should indicate whether witness(es) did or
did not appear and immediately return the form to the business manager.
The proper paperwork will then be forwarded to the witness(es) for completion.
For in-person hearings, the Hearing Officer will receive, in addition to
the Witness Certification, a Witness Allowance form and the Texas Application
for Payee Identification Number form. These forms should be given to the
witness(es) to complete and returned to the business manager. The Witness
Certification should be returned to the business manager.
- Travel is infrequent within the department, but is required occasionally.
The business manager should be contacted for assistance and guidance in
making travel arrangements. All requests for airline tickets and rent cars
must be made through the business manager.
- All state agencies are required to participate in the State Travel Management
Program. Hotel reservations must be made with hotels which have contracted
with the state. The Texas State Travel Directory, which is available on
the Intranet, lists these hotels.
- After travel is completed, a State of Texas Travel Voucher must be filled
out, signed and submitted to the business manager. The business manager
will forward the voucher to the appropriate department for payment. Hearing
Officers should contact the business manager for assistance in preparing
their travel vouchers. Copies of any receipts, with the exception of food
receipts, should be kept and submitted with travel vouchers. Airline receipts
must be returned to the business manager within five days after travel is
completed.
- With any hearing involving an interpreter, the Hearing Officer will receive
an Interpreter Certification form. That form should be signed by the Hearing
Officer if services were rendered, and returned to the business manager.
(This may also be done electronically via E-mail.) If service was available
but not rendered due to Hearing Officer illness or party not needing interpreter,
a notation should be made on the certification and it should be returned
to the business manager. If services were not rendered, a notation should
be made on the certification and returned to the business manager. The form
will be sent to the Hearing Officer prior to the hearing. If the form has
not arrived or if there is any type of unusual situation involving the interpreter
(i.e., the interpreter is not available, etc.), the Hearing Officer should
notify the business manager as soon as possible.
 Please e-mail questions or comments to appeals@twc.state.tx.us.
Return to Appeals Home Page
|
