Subdivision 1. Filing. If a document is required to be filed by this chapter or any rules adopted pursuant to authority granted by this chapter, the filing shall be completed upon acceptance of the document by the agency. Any document that lacks information required by statute or rule, or is not filed in the manner and format required by this chapter, may be rejected. A document rejected for any of these reasons is not considered filed. An agency is not required to maintain, and may destroy, a duplicate of a document that has already been filed. If a workers' compensation identification number has been assigned by the department, it must be substituted for the Social Security number on a document.

A notice or other document required to be served or filed at either the department, the office, or the court of appeals which is inadvertently served or filed at the wrong one of these agencies by an unrepresented employee shall be deemed to have been served or filed with the proper agency. The receiving agency shall note the date of receipt of a document and shall forward the documents to the proper agency no later than two working days following receipt.

Subd. 2. Proof of service; affidavits and notarized statements. (a) Whenever a provision of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant to authority granted by this chapter require either a proof of service, an affidavit of service, or a notarized statement on a document, the requirement is satisfied by a document that meets the definition of an affidavit under Rule 15 of the General Rules of Practice for the district courts.

(b) An agency is not required to verify the accuracy of a proof or affidavit of service filed by a party before accepting a document for filing. This does not prevent a party from asserting insufficient or lack of service in a proceeding.

(c) Service on a party's attorney constitutes service on the represented party, unless service on the employee is specifically required by this chapter.

(d) A party is not required to file a proof or affidavit of service when the party is served electronically by the agency and the agency has issued a proof of service.

History: 1953 c 755 s 41; Ex1967 c 1 s 6; 1973 c 388 s 85; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1976 c 134 s 78; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 332 s 68; 1995 c 231 art 2 s 94; 2008 c 250 s 14; 2017 c 94 art 3 s 4; 1Sp2019 c 7 art 12 s 12

NOTE: The amendment to this section by Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 7, article 12, section 12, is effective August 31, 2020. Laws 2019, First Special Session chapter 7, article 12, section 12, the effective date.