Setting the Manner of Appearance of Parties and Witnesses at Hearings

Issuing agencies

Abstract

We propose to update our hearing regulations by changing the terms "video teleconference" to "video"; changing "telephone" to "audio"; and permitting "video" and "audio" to be used as standard manners of appearance. These changes would clarify that claimants may appear for hearings remotely, using private electronic devices that we do not own, operate, or approve. The proposed changes would also make clear that a claimant may appear for a hearing using approved online video conferencing applications, rather than conferencing options using equipment that we own or approve. Additionally, while our current regulations permit us to schedule claimants to appear by telephone in limited circumstances only, we propose to schedule claimants to appear by audio without similar restrictions, if the claimant does not object to appearing in that manner. We expect that these changes would provide us and claimants with additional flexibility, which would allow us to manage our hearing process more efficiently.