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Office of Adjudication

Judges' Procedural Rules and Policies

The Special Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure, 34 Pa. Code Section 131.1 et seq., govern the trial of claims before workers' compensation judges. These rules establish general procedures for postponement and continuance requests, time limitations, filing and service of pleadings, hearings, supersedeas rulings, depositions, discovery, subpoenas, stipulations, post-trial submissions and decisions.

The Special Rules permit judges to waive or modify their requirement when there is cause to do so. Judges may alter certain time limits, establish hearing patterns and schedules, adjust the timing and order of proofs, and encourage the format for post-trial submissions.

The following page links to procedural rules and policies completed by workers' compensation judges. They address procedural questions the parties frequently encounter in trying workers' compensation cases. You may search alphabetically by judge's name. These procedural rules and policies can also be found in WCAIS on the "General Information" tab of the "Dispute Summary" and in the "Judge Communication" grid on the WCOA Dashboard. 

The answers provided are for informational purposes only. They are intended solely as general guidelines for trying cases before workers' compensation judges. The types of rulings referenced are extremely fact-sensitive and do not bind any judge to rule one way or another in any given case.