§ 111.3. Definitions.
(a) The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Act—The Workers’ Compensation Act (77 P. S. § § 1—1041.4 and 2501—2708).
Appeal—A proceeding to review a ruling or decision by a judge.
Board—The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board.
Disease Law—The Pennsylvania Occupational Disease Act (77 P. S. § § 1201—1603).
Filing—Filing is deemed complete upon one of the following:(i) Delivery in person.
(ii) If by electronic submission, upon receipt and in a format as prescribed by the Department and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin or the Department’s web site located at www.dli.state.pa.us.
(iii) If by mail, upon deposit in the United States mail, properly addressed, postage or charges prepaid, as evidenced by one of the following:
(A) United States Postal Service postmark.
(B) United States Postal Service Certificate of Mailing (USPS Form 3817 or other similar United States Postal Service form from which the date of deposit can be verified), enclosed with the filing or submitted separately to the Department.
(iv) An appeal may be delivered by a common carrier of property which is subject to the authority of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission or the United States National Surface Transportation Board. The date of filing is the date the document was delivered to the common carrier, as established by a document or other record prepared by the common carrier in the normal course of business. If the date of delivery to the common carrier cannot be determined by the documents in the record, the date of filing will be the date of its receipt by the Board.
Judge—A workers’ compensation judge assigned by the Office of Adjudication as provided in section 401 of the act (77 P. S. § 701) or assigned by the Office of Adjudication to determine a petition filed under the Disease Law.
Office of Adjudication—The Office of the Department created under section 1401(a) of the act (77 P. S. § 2501(a)).
Party—A petitioner or respondent. An act required or authorized by this chapter, to be done by or to a party, may be done by or to that party’s counsel of record.
Petitioner—Anyone seeking to review a ruling or decision by a judge or the moving party in a petition filed under Subchapter D (relating to other petitions).
Respondent—Anyone in whose favor the matter was decided by the judge or other than the moving party in any petition filed under Subchapter D.
Service—Delivery in person, by mail or electronics. If service is by mail, it is deemed complete upon deposit in the United States mail, as evidenced by a United States Postal Service postmark, properly addressed, with postage or charges prepaid.
Supersedeas—A temporary stay affecting a workers’ compensation case.(b) Subsection (a) supersedes 1 Pa. Code § § 31.3, 31.11 and 33.34 (relating to definitions; timely filing required; and date of service).
Authority The provisions of this § 111.3 amended under sections 401.1, 435(a) and (c) and 1608 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (77 P. S. § § 710, 991(a) and (c) and 2708); 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).
Source The provisions of this § 111.3 adopted April 7, 1989, effective April 8, 1989, 19 Pa.B. 1631; amended December 6, 2002, effective December 7, 2002, 32 Pa.B. 6043; amended October 16, 2009, effective October 17, 2009, 39 Pa.B. 6038; amended December 19, 2014, effective December 20, 2014, 44 Pa.B. 7837. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (345964) to (345965).
Notes of Decisions Postmark as Evidence of Filing Date
A United States postmark will constitute sufficient evidence of the mailing date of an appeal, in order to determine whether the appeal was timely filed, when the appeal is properly stamped and addressed but not received by the Appeal Board within the 20 days allowed for appeal. Sellers v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, 713 A.2d 87 (Pa. 1998).
A postmark is the necessary form of evidence as to the filing date, and the courts have held that an official United States postmark is the most reliable evidence of the precise time of mailing. Therefore, where the envelope containing a workers’ compensation appeal does not have an official United States postmark, the appeal must be deemed filed when received by the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. Because the employer’s appeal was not received by the Board until after the 20 day period and expired, the appeal was not timely, and the Board was without jurisdiction to consider the issues raised therein. Sellers v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board (HMT Constr. Servs.) 687 A.2d 413 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996); affirmed 713 A.2d 87 (Pa. 1998).
Sufficient Particularity
The employer did not waive its appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board of the Worker’s Compensation Judge’s award of attorney fees, where the appeal document cited the particular findings of fact, which the employer alleged to be in error or not supported by substantial evidence and noted the conclusions of law and the sections of the order, which were in error. Ramich v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board, 734 A.2d 39 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999); appeal granted in part, 746 A.2d 1108 (Pa. 2000); reversed 770 A.2d 318 (Pa. 2001).
Timely Appeals
An appeal to the Board of Worker’s Compensation Appeal Board which is received beyond the twenty days allowed by Section 423 of the Act cannot be considered timely in the absence of evidence that the appeal was mailed on or before the last day allowed for filing. Sellers v. Workmen’s Compensation Board (HMT Constr. Servs.) 687 A.2d 413 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1996); appeal granted 699 A.2d 737 (Pa. 1997); affirmed 713 A.2d 87 (Pa. 1998).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
