Pennsylvania Code › Title 34 - LABOR AND INDUSTRY › Part VIII - Bureau of Workers' Compensation › Chapter 131 - SPECIAL RULES OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE BEFORE WORKERS' COMPENSATION JUDGES › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 131.5 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) The following
				  words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless
				  the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Act
-The Workers' Compensation Act
					 (77
					 P. S. §§
												1- 1041.4 and
					 2501-2708).
Additional defendant
-An insurance carrier,
					 the Commonwealth or an employer, other than the insurance carrier or employer
					 against which the original petition was filed, joined under this chapter, not
					 including the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund.
Adjudicating judge
-A judge assigned to
					 hold hearings and issue decisions relating to a petition or petitions.
Board
-The Workers' Compensation Appeal
					 Board.
Challenge proceeding
-A proceeding governed
					 by §
											131.50a (relating to employee
					 request for special supersedeas hearing under section 413(c) and (d) of the
					 act).
Claim petition
-A petition filed with the
					 Department under section 410 of the act (77 P. S. §
												751).
Claimant
-An individual who files a
					 petition for, or otherwise receives, benefits under the act or the Disease
					 Law.
Defendant
-An employer, insurance carrier
					 and the Commonwealth, unless specifically designated individually, and the
					 Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund, except for purposes of joinder, penalties or
					 assessment of counsel fees under section 440 of the act (77 P. S. §
												996).
Department
-The Department of Labor and
					 Industry of the Commonwealth.
Department record
-Official copies of
					 documents received by the Department, on forms prescribed by the Department, if
					 forms prescribed by the Department are available, or official copies of
					 documents received by the Department on forms prepared by a party if forms
					 prescribed by the Department are not available, which record transactions
					 between the parties and which are determined by the judge to pertain to the
					 case.
Director of Adjudication
-The individual
					 specified in section 1402 of the act (77 P. S. §
												2502).
Disease Law
-The Pennsylvania Occupational
					 Disease Act (77 P. S. §§
												1201-1603).
Insurer
-A workers' compensation insurance
					 carrier or self-insured employer, as applicable.
Judge
-A workers' compensation judge
					 assigned by the Office of Adjudication as provided in sections 401 and 401.1 of
					 the act (77 P. S. §§
												701 and
					 710) or assigned by the
					 Office of Adjudication to determine a petition filed under the act or the
					 Disease Law.
Judge manager
-A workers' compensation
					 judge with management responsibilities appointed under the Civil Service Act
					 (71
					 P. S. §§
												741.1-741.1005).
Mandatory mediation
-A mediation conducted
					 by a mediating judge under §
											131.59b (relating to mandatory
					 mediation).
Mediating judge
-A judge assigned to
					 mediate petitions in accordance with sections 401 and 401.1 of the act and this
					 chapter.
Mediation
-A conference conducted by a
					 judge, having as its purpose an attempt to reconcile any or all disputes under
					 the act or this chapter existing between contending parties. Mediation can be
					 either mandatory or voluntary.
Office of Adjudication
-The Office of the
					 Department created under section 1401(a) of the act (77 P. S. §
												2501(a)).
Party
-A claimant, defendant, employer,
					 insurance carrier, additional defendant, health care provider and, if relevant,
					 the Commonwealth and the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund. An act required or
					 authorized by this chapter, to be done by or to a party, may be done by or to
					 that party's counsel of record.
Penalty proceeding
-A proceeding governed
					 by section 435(d) of the act (77 P. S. §
												991(d)).
Records of work environment
-Records and
					 documents relating to work place health, safety, hazards and exposure,
					 including records or documents which may be obtained under the Worker and
					 Community Right-to-Know Act (35 P. S. §§
												7301-7320) and
					 29 CFR
					 1901.1 -
					 1928.1027 (relating to
					 Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor).
Resolution hearing
-A procedure established
					 by the Office of Adjudication with the sole purpose of providing a venue to
					 present a compromise and release to a judge in an expedited fashion.
Statement previously made
-A written
					 statement signed or otherwise adopted or approved by the persons making it, or
					 a stenographic, mechanical, electrical, computer-generated or other recording,
					 or transcription thereof, which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral
					 statement by the person making it and contemporaneously recorded. The term does
					 not include statements made by parties which are protected by the
					 attorney-client privilege or which are protected as the work product of
					 counsel.
Supersedeas
-A temporary stay affecting a
					 workers' compensation case.
UEGF-Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund
-The
					 special fund established under Article XVI of the act (77 P. S.
					 §§
												2701-2708).
UEGF claim petition
-A petition filed with
					 the Department under section 1604 of the act (77 P. S. §
												2704)
Voluntary mediation
-A mediation conducted
					 by a judge under §
											131.59a (relating to voluntary
					 mediation) upon the agreement of the contending parties and the judge.
Writing
-Includes electronic communications
					 in a format as prescribed by the Department.
(b) Subsection (a) supersedes 1 Pa. Code
				  §§
										31.3 and
				  33.33 (relating to definitions;
				  and effect of service upon an attorney).
The provisions of this §
												131.5 amended under sections
						401.1, 435(a) and (c) and 1608 of
						the Workers' Compensation Act (77 P. S. §§
													710,
						991(a) and (c) and 2708);
						section 2205 of The Administrative Code of 1929 (71 P. S. §
													565); and section 414 of The Pennsylvania
						Occupational Disease Act (77 P. S. §
													1514).
This section cited in 34 Pa. Code §
												131.201 (relating to
						petitions).