Appeal Hearing Officer Handbook Departmental Policies

1. There will be no limit to the number of employees who will be approved for vacation leave on the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving and during the period from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day; however, it will be necessary to retain a skeleton crew (as defined by departmental supervision) on duty on any day which is not a state holiday. This last restriction will not apply to the smallest Appeals locations.
2. Requests for vacation leave should not be submitted more than six months in advance.
3. During any given week outside the holiday periods described in the 5(a) paragraph above, the Chief of Appeals will designate the maximum number of Hearing Officers statewide who will be approved for vacation leave; vacation leave approval decisions for other positions, including notice writers, will be made on a week to week basis as needed in light of the department's workload.
4. All vacation leave requests must be filed initially with the requesting employee's immediate supervisor. This should be done as soon as possible as we will continue to generally follow the practice of "first come, first served" approval.
5. Any employee who has had vacation leave approval for a specific period of time but who wishes, at the eleventh hour, to change their plans and report for duty will be permitted to do this only if adequate work can be assigned for the period in question. Otherwise, they may be compelled to remain in vacation leave status for that period. This situation may apply to Hearing Officers more than any other group.
6. The Chief of Appeals has the authority to grant exceptions to any of the above.
7. Appeals Department management has the authority to impose greater limitations as to any given period if needed or to amend any or all aspects of the above policy; any such changes will, however, take account of vacation leave already approved.
8. Any hearing officer taking leave needs to make every effort to get all decisions finished before going on leave.

1. The quality appraisal is based on the performance criteria found in Sections 800 and 801 of the Hearing Officer Handbook. Approximately one case will be reviewed and graded per month. For a twelve month annual review, the lowest score of the twelve graded cases will be dropped and the remainder will be averaged to derive the score. For any review period of less than twelve months, no score will be dropped.
2. The timeliness of decision dictation is measured by the percentage of cases dictated within three business days of the last hearing. "Date dictated" means (1) for Stand-Alone Hearing Officers, the date the Hearing Officer clicks the “Mail Final Decision” button in the Hearing Officer Case Management (HOCM) System. (2) for cases types by stenographers, the date the decision is received by the steno for typing. "Three business days" is defined as the 72 work hours immediately following the end of the work day on which the Hearing Officer held the hearing. If the Hearing Officer misses work due to illness on the third day, this period is tolled to the next day the Hearing Officer is at work.
3. The accuracy of mailed decisions is measured by the percentage of mailed decisions which were sufficiently correct to implement the decision as written and which dispose of all necessary issues.

Quality Customer Service (Both internal and external customers)

Proficient
Returns calls promptly and courteously;
Fills out contact report forms;
Forwards reasonably foreseeable agency exhibits to parties in a timely manner;
Handles hearing documents properly;
Gives proper notice to expert witnesses;
Starts hearings as scheduled;
Conducts hearings in a business-like manner;
Issues correct decisions in a timely manner;
Is courteous and tactful with parties, the public and agency personnel;
Properly handles address changes;
Forwards new issues to the appropriate department; and
Complies with supervisory directives in a timely manner.
Notifies hearing scheduler promtly to reset postponed and continued hearings.

Outstanding
Directs clients to other sources when necessary; and
Does other TWC work outside scope of normal duties.
Consistently follows important hearing procedures designed to fully develop the record, including, but not limited to due process issues, witnesses, and document handling.
Issues decisions in a timely manner with no decision being delayed significantly without a compelling reason.
Note: If a Hearing Officer is doing well in other core dimensions or job duties, that will carry over to the quality customer service core dimension as well.

Teamwork

Proficient
Is aware of work's impact on others (clerical support staff, business manager, etc.);
Timely submits reports and forms (status reports, time sheets, etc.);
Holds hearings for others (e.g., sick HO, other HO has long hearing, other HO has temporary decision dictation backlog, etc.);
Develops and maintains effective work relationships; and
Communicates and acts in a professional and courteous manner.
Promptly and accurately keys leave requests and certifies time sheet in CHAPS.
Responds promptly to inquiries from supervisors and other appeals personnel.

Outstanding
Develops a buddy system to proof decisions and answer calls when possible;
Trains new HO's; and
Routinely answers questions from other HO's.
Readily accepts the more difficult cases involving more complex issues.
Volunteers to perform other Appeals Department work-related tasks outside of normal duties to assist the appeals department.

Communication

Proficient
Communicates with parties, coworkers, and supervisors in a clear, polite, professional, and understandable manner. Does not use slang, legalese, or abbreviations not commonly understood when conversing with the public or in business correspondence, including Appeal Tribunal decisions, e-mails;
Listens to and clarifies ideas and views of others;
Seeks clarification of rules, policies, or procedures from supervisor if HO does not understand.
Follows the proper chain of command in communicating with others.
Follows Commission guidelines when drafting external and internal correspondence.
Returns phone calls and responds to e-mails promptly.
Provides factual and appropriate information to the public.

Outstanding
Explains completely rules and policies in response to inquiries;
Writes messages/notes/decisions that are clear, concise, and understandable;
Consults with supervisor prior to hearing on unusual or difficult issues and cases;
Alerts appropriate personnel of problems (e.g., problems with phones or irate party).
Refers parties to other resources as needed.

Initiative/Innovation

Proficient
Does job well and exercises independent decision making. In this core dimension, if the Hearing Officer is doing the every day duties at least at a proficient level, then the level for this dimension will be proficient.
Initiates investigations of other U.I. issues when appropriate.

Outstanding
Conducts hearings for late-calling appellant when non-appellant has not appeared or has not been dismissed, and hearing does not adversely impact other scheduled hearings.
Volunteers willingly for projects, special programs, grievances, etc.
Cross trains in other areas of the Appeals Department;
Volunteers for difficult cases;
Takes initiative to acquire skills and knowledge to increase value to the Appeals Department;
Helps out in other areas when needed:
Develops procedures to help do work (e.g., form decisions, tables, glossary for SHOs);
Submits new ideas/proposals that may help the overall missions of the Appeals Department. Submit new ideas to your immediate supervisor either by E-mail or mail.
Uses extra time when the schedule permits to read and study the TUCA, Rules, precedents, and appeals directives to become more familiar with them.

Flexibility/Adaptability

Proficient
Accepts new tasks or procedures willingly.
Is eager to learn to use new equipment or computer software used in appeals.
Readily accepts departmental changes and does not persist in obsolete methods, procedures, and attitudes.

Outstanding
Conducts hearing after overcoming technical problems;
Is versatile with changing customer needs (e.g., holds 1-party hearing other than when scheduled)
Readily acquires needed skills, knowledge, and techniques (e.g. reads special program manuals, takes extra CBT courses for job, etc.).

Case Review

I. Hearing Officer I
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 80% or has more than two retained cases scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 80% to 84.99% with no more than two retained cases scoring under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 85% or more with no more than two retained cases scoring under 80%.

II. Hearing Officer II
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 85% or has more than one retained case scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 85% to 89.99% with no more than one retained case scoring under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 90% or more with no more than one retained case scoring under 80%.

III. Hearing Officer III
Unsatisfactory: Scores less than an average of 90% or has any one retained case scoring under 80%.
Proficient: Scores an average of 90% to 95.99% and no retained cases scoring under 80%.
Outstanding: Scores an average of 96% or more with no retained cases scoring under 80%.

NOTE: The following standards apply to all Hearing Officers.

Timeliness of Decision Dictation

Unsatisfactory: Scores less than 90% of decisions dictated within three days of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.
Proficient: Score 90% to 94.9% of decisions dictated within three days of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.
Outstanding: Score of 95% or more of decisions dictated within three days of the most recent Appeal Tribunal hearing.

Accuracy of Mailed Decisions

Unsatisfactory: Score of less than 98% of mailed decisions are sufficiently accurate to be implemented as written.
Proficient: 98 to 98.99% of mailed decisions are sufficiently accurate to be implemented as written.
Outstanding: Score of 99% or more of mailed decisions are sufficiently accurate to be implemented as written.