§ 10397. Restrictions on the Rejection for Filing of Documents Subject to a Statute of Limitations or a Jurisdictional Time Limitation.

(a) An application for adjudication of claim, a petition for reconsideration, a petition to reopen, or any other petition or other document that is subject to a statute of limitations or a jurisdictional time limitation shall not be rejected for filing solely on the basis that:

(1) the document is not filed in the proper office of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board;

(2) the document has been submitted without the proper form, or it has been submitted with a form that is either incomplete or contains inaccurate information; or

(3) the document has not been submitted with the required document cover sheet and/or document separator sheet(s), or it has been submitted with a document cover sheet and/or document separator sheet(s) not containing all of the required information.

(b) A document that is subject to a statute of limitations or a jurisdictional time limitation may be rejected for filing if it does not contain a combination of information sufficient to establish the case or cases to which the document relates or, if it is a case opening document, sufficient information to open an adjudication file. If a document is rejected in accordance with this subdivision, the Court Administrator shall return the document to the filer and shall notify the filer, through the service of a Notice of Document Discrepancy, that the document has not been accepted for filing. The Notice of Document Discrepancy shall specify the nature of the discrepancy(ies) and the date of the attempted filing, and it shall state that the filer shall have 15 days from the service of the Notice within which to correct the discrepancy(ies) and resubmit the document for filing. If the document is corrected and resubmitted for filing within 15 days, or at a later date upon a showing of good cause, it shall be deemed filed as of the original date the document was submitted.

(d) Nothing in this section shall preclude the discretionary or conditional acceptance for filing of a document that is subject to a statute of limitations or a jurisdictional time limitation, even if it does not contain a combination of information sufficient to establish the case or cases to which the document relates or, if it is a case opening document, sufficient information to open an adjudication file.

(e) Where document that it is subject to a statute of limitations or a jurisdictional time limitation has been accepted for filing in accordance with this rule, but the document nevertheless cannot be processed by EAMS, the Court Administrator may serve a copy of the filed document on the filing party or lien claimant, together with a Notice of Document Discrepancy. The notice may specify the nature of the discrepancy(ies) and request that the party correct the discrepancy(ies) within 15 days after service of the Notice, however, a failure to timely correct the discrepancy(ies) shall not nullify the acceptance of the document for filing.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to excuse non-compliance with any of other provisions of the rules of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board or non-compliance with the rules the Court Administrator. Any such non-compliance may still be a basis for the imposition of sanctions under Labor Code section 5813 and Rule 10561.

HISTORY

1. New section filed 11-17-2008; operative 11-17-2008. Submitted to OAL for printing only (Register 2008, No. 47).

Note

Note: Authority cited: Article XIV, Section 4, California Constitution; Sections 133, 5307, 5309 and 5708, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 126, 5316, 5500 and 5501, Labor Code.