Rules of Practice and Procedure for Administrative Hearings Before the Office of Administrative Law Judges

This is the final text of regulations governing practice and procedure for proceedings before the United States Department of Labor, Office of Administrative Law Judges (OALJ). The regulations were first published as a final rule in 1983 and were modeled on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on December 4, 2012 requesting public comment on proposed revisions to and reorganization of these regulations. The revisions make the regulations more accessible and useful to parties. The revisions also harmonize administrative hearing procedures with the current FRCP and with the types of claims now heard by OALJ, which increasingly involve whistleblower and other workplace retaliation claims, in addition to a longstanding caseload of occupational disease and injury claims. The Department received sixteen comments to the proposed rule. This rule responds to those comments and establishes the final text of the revised regulations.