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 C - FORMAL PROCEEDINGS › PENALTY PROCEEDINGS › Section 131.121 - Penalty proceedings initiated by a party

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) Penalty proceedings may be initiated by a
					 party filing a petition for penalties as provided in §
											131.32 (relating to petitions
					 except petitions for joinder and challenge proceedings). Answers shall be filed
					 as provided in §
											131.33 (relating to answers except
					 answers to petitions for joinder and challenge proceedings).
(b) Penalty proceedings initiated by a party
					 in a pending proceeding may be initiated by a petition under subsection (a) or
					 by motion on the record in the pending proceeding. If penalties are requested
					 by motion on the record, an answer may be made either orally on the record or
					 as provided in subsection (a).
(c)
					 If, in a pending proceeding where no separate penalty petition has been filed
					 in accordance with subsection (a), it appears to the judge in proceedings
					 before the judge that there has been noncompliance with the act or this
					 chapter, the judge will schedule a hearing for the purpose of determining if
					 noncompliance has occurred unless the hearing is waived by the parties. The
					 hearing will be scheduled either upon motion of a party or on the judge's own
					 motion unless waived.
(d) The judge
					 will give notice of the scheduling of any penalty hearing to all parties and
					 this notice will specify the nature of the penalty proceeding and that the
					 hearing will involve the question of the imposition of penalties under the act
					 or this chapter.
(e) The penalty
					 hearing may be conducted in conjunction with a hearing on the merits in a
					 pending proceeding or at a separate hearing.
(f) At the penalty hearing, the judge will
					 take testimony, receive evidence and hear arguments necessary to create a
					 record sufficient to support, defend or appeal the decision of the judge
					 regarding noncompliance with the act or this chapter and the imposition of
					 penalties.
(g) A party complaining
					 of a violation of the act or this chapter shall have the burden of proving the
					 violation.
(h) The judge, in a
					 separate order prior to a final order or in conjunction with the final decision
					 in the proceeding, will rule on the request for penalties and will determine
					 whether noncompliance with the act or this chapter exists, and, if appropriate,
					 impose penalties.
(i) Subsections
					 (a)-(h) supersede 1 Pa. Code §§
											35.1,
					 35.2,
					 35.5-35.7,
					 35.9-35.11, 35.14, 35.17-35.20, 35.23,
					 35.24, 35.35-35.41, 35.54, 35.55 and 35.251 and also supersede 1 Pa. Code
					 Chapter 35, Subchapter D.
The provisions of this §
													131.121 amended under sections
						  401.1 and 435(a) and (c) of the
						  Workers' Compensation Act (77 P. S. §§
														710 and
						  991(a) and (c)); 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 §
													121.27a (relating to bureau
						  intervention and penalties); and 34 Pa. Code §
													131.122 (relating to other penalty
						  proceedings).