Nebraska Administrative Code › Topic - LABOR, DEPARTMENT OF › Title 224 - DEPARTMENT OF LABOR › Chapter 1 - APPEALS PROCEDURE › Section 224-1-015

Current through June 17, 2024
A. In accordance with
Neb. Rev.
				Stat.
§
									48-635,
				a hearing before the Appeal Tribunal shall be conducted in an informal manner
				and the common-law or statutory rules of evidence and other technical rules of
				procedure shall not apply.
B. All
				testimony shall be taken under oath or affirmation. Evidence may be excluded
				should the hearing officer find it to be incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial,
				or unduly repetitious.
C. At the
				beginning of any hearing at which the appealing party appears, the hearing
				officer shall mark the Hearing File as an exhibit and shall admit it into
				evidence. The documents in the Hearing File shall be self-authenticating as
				records of the agency. Any party may use any portion of the Hearing File when
				presenting its case, and the hearing officer may question the parties about any
				documents in the Hearing File. The hearing officer shall consider the documents
				in the Hearing File when making findings of fact and conclusions of law and
				shall determine what weight to give to the documents.
D. Each party shall have the right to present
				evidence, both oral and documentary. Each party shall have the right to
				cross-examine witnesses and to present rebuttal evidence.
E. The hearing officer shall have the right
				in his or her discretion to limit the number of witnesses whose testimony may
				be incompetent, irrelevant, immaterial or unduly repetitious and may also limit
				the cross-examination of witnesses so as not to prolong the hearing
				unnecessarily and unduly burden the record.
F. A party wishing to offer a document into
				evidence should provide a copy to all other parties prior to the time set for
				the hearing and sent to the Appeal Tribunal at least 24 hours prior to the time
				of the hearing. Documents not provided to all parties prior to the hearing
				shall be received into evidence only for good cause shown. The hearing officer
				shall have the right in his or her discretion to exclude the number of
				documents that may be ineffectual, irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly
				repetitive. Documents marked and offered into evidence shall become part of the
				record of the hearing, regardless of whether they are actually received into
				evidence. Upon request, copies may be substituted if original documents are
				presented.
G. Objections to
				evidence shall be made to the Appeal Tribunal at the time the evidence is
				offered.
H. A hearing officer shall
				take official notice of the determination appealed, the Nebraska Employment
				Security Law, any relevant federal statute, any relevant unemployment insurance
				program letter issued by the United States Department of Labor and any relevant
				regulation of the Department, pursuant to
Neb. Rev. Stat.
§
									84-914.
				A hearing officer may take official notice of other facts as authorized in
Neb. Rev. Stat.
§
									84-914.
I. The hearing officer shall function as an
				impartial fact finder and must attempt to obtain the reasonably available,
				competent evidence necessary to resolve the issues of the case, but shall not
				act as an advocate for any party.
J. All testimony before the Appeal Tribunal
				shall be recorded. Parties to a proceeding may obtain a duplicate recording or
				transcript upon written request and by paying the actual cost of duplication,
				transcription, and mailing to the Appeal Tribunal.