Oakland, CA – The Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) has posted tentative proposed changes to its Rules of Practice and Procedure (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 10300 et seq.) on its web forum for informal public comment. These changes are largely being proposed in light of Senate Bill 863 (Stats. 2012, ch. 363 [SB 863]), although some proposed changes are not strictly related to SB 863.
The informal public comment period began Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, and will end at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. After the closure of the informal public comment period, the WCAB will take the informal comments into consideration and make any modifications to the tentative proposed regulations that it deems appropriate. Thereafter, the WCAB will submit proposed regulations to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) to commence the formal public comment period, culminating in a public hearing. The WCAB will announce the beginning of the formal public comment period and the date of the public hearing in various ways, including on DWC’s Newsline.
The WCAB’s web forum can be found online. Please click on “current forums” at the top of the page. On a periodic basis, the forum moderator will compile the comments received and post them in a document to the forum where they can be reviewed.
Comments may be submitted by e-mail to WCABRules@dir.ca.gov or they may be mailed to:
Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board
Attention: WCAB Forum
P.O. Box 429459
San Francisco CA 94142-9459
The WCAB encourages all interested members of the workers’ compensation community to participate in this important process.
Source: CA DWC