MEMORANDUM NO. 2020-13

Limited In-Person Formal and Appellate Hearings effective August 1, 2020

In consultation with the Office of Policy Management and Department of Administrative Services, WCC will begin allowing a limited number of in-person formal and CRB hearings beginning on August 1, 2020.

All formal hearings that can be completed through Microsoft Teams will continue to be done as such. If at a commissioner's discretion a formal hearing cannot be done appropriately through Teams, it will be scheduled to be done in-person.

CRB hearings will be done in-person at the discretion of the Chairman with all others continuing to be done telephonically.

All parties scheduled for an in-person hearing should arrive promptly, call the appropriate office to announce their arrival and wait outside the office's main entrance until an employee has allowed them to enter. ALL parties must wear face coverings, remain at least 6 feet apart and follow any directions posted or provided by WCC staff.

There will be a maximum of one in-person formal and appellate hearing per office, per day, to ensure proper cleaning and sanitizing can be completed. The number of hearing participants will not exceed 33% of the hearing rooms capacity at any time.

While WCC realizes these requirements may be burdensome, we hope that parties will respect the steps WCC is taking to ensure the safety of the public and our staff.

At this time, all other hearings and services will continue to be done without a party's physical presence. These hearings will remain under the guidelines provided in Memorandum 2020-02, Memorandum 2020-04, and Memorandum 2020-05. WCC forms and all other correspondence should continue to be submitted pursuant to Memorandum 2020-07.

Please note that limiting public access to WCC offices is subject to the continuation of the workers' compensation provisions under Governor Lamont's     Executive Order No. 7K which remain in effect.