RULES AND PROCEDURES IN APPEALS.

The Board of Review shall adopt reasonable rules governing the manner of filing appeals and the conduct of hearings and appeals before the Board of Review, consistent with the provisions of the Employment Security Act of 1980. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission shall adopt and, from time to time, may modify and amend rules governing appeals before the Appeal Tribunal of the Commission and its referees. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission shall create and maintain a precedent manual to reflect current statutes and statutory changes along with current case law that is applicable to questions of law which may arise during hearing or appeals. The precedent manual shall be updated by the Commission within thirty (30) days of the effective date of any statutory changes and shall be available at the offices of the Commission and on any Internet website maintained by the Commission. When the same or substantially similar evidence is relevant and material to the matters in issue in claims by more than one individual or in claims by a single individual with respect to two (2) or more weeks of unemployment, the same time and place for considering each such claim may be fixed, hearings thereon jointly conducted, a single record of the proceedings made, and evidence introduced with respect to one proceeding considered as introduced in the others, provided that in the judgment of the appeal tribunal referee having jurisdiction of the proceeding, such consolidation would not be prejudicial to any party. No person shall participate as an appeal tribunal referee or member of the Board of Review on any case in which the person has a personal interest. A record shall be kept of all testimony and proceedings before an appeal tribunal referee, but the testimony need not be transcribed unless judicial review is initiated. Witnesses subpoenaed pursuant to this section shall be allowed fees at a rate fixed by the Commission, and fees of witnesses subpoenaed on behalf of the Commission, the employer, or any claimant, shall be deemed part of the expense of administering the Employment Security Act of 1980.

Added by Laws 1980, c. 323, § 2-607, eff. Oct. 1, 1980. Amended by Laws 1982, c. 304, § 10, operative Oct. 1, 1982; Laws 1990, c. 333, § 4, emerg. eff. May 31, 1990; Laws 1998, c. 161, § 9, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2011, c. 256, § 6; Laws 2016, c. 287, § 4, eff. Nov. 1, 2016.