PART XI REDETERMINATIONS AND APPEALS
11.2.9	Conduct of Hearing. Hearings shall be conducted informally with as few technical requirements as possible. THE hearing officer shall control the evidence taken during A HEARING IN A MANNER BEST SUITED TO FULLY Fully and fairly develop the relevant evidence, safeguard the rights of all parties, and ascertain the substantive rights of the parties based on the merits of the issue(s) to be decided. The appealing party shall be required to present evidence that supports the party’s position on the issues raised by the appeal. Parties to the appeal may present any relevant evidence. However, the hearing officer is charged with ensuring that the record is fully developed to the extent practicable based on the evidence reasonably available at the time of the hearing, whether or not a party is represented. Therefore, the hearing officer should oversee the development of the evidence and participate in the interrogation process to the extent necessary to fully develop the record. 
11.2.15 Procedure for Appeal to the Panel. 
.1 	An appeal from a decision of a hearing officer shall be by written notice of appeal that shall be in any form that signifies an intent to appeal and shall be filed with the panel in person, by mail, by facsimile machine or by panel-approved electronic means, or at a public employment office or the central office of the division or the office where the hearing officer is located or by division-approved electronic means. An appeal from a decision of a hearing officer shall be filed within the time limits provided by 8-74-104 (1), C.R.S., and regulation 1.8.  When an appeal has been received, the appeal file and record shall be transmitted to the panel. The panel shall notify the interested parties named in the caption of the hearing officer’s decision that an appeal has been filed and shall provide a copy of the written appeal to the other-named parties. 
.2 	The appeal shall be filed within the time limits and in the manner provided by 8-74-106 (1), C.R.S. , and  BASED ON THE LENGTH OF THE HEARING, THE RECORDING METHOD, OR OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS, THE PANEL MAY DETERMINE THAT A WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT OF THE HEARING IS NOT REQUIRED.  IF A WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT IS REQUIRED, THE APPEAL shall be accompanied by either the payment of the approximate cost of the transcript or a written statement of indigency on a completed form or in an electronic format prescribed by the panel requesting that such cost be waived. 
.3 	If A TRANSCRIPT IS REQUIRED AND the appeal is not accompanied by either the payment of the approximate cost of the transcript or a written waiver request on a completed form or in an electronic format prescribed by the panel, the appeal shall be dismissed, and notice of the dismissal shall be provided to the appealing party by the panel. However, a party whose appeal is dismissed pursuant to this subsection may reinstate the appeal by filing said payment or waiver request with the panel within fifteen calendar days after the date the notice of dismissal was provided to the party by the panel. 
.4 	A request for waiver of the transcript cost shall be granted if payment of the transcript cost would cause the appealing party undue financial hardship. In determining whether such payment would cause undue financial hardship, any relevant factors may be considered, including but not limited to the party's income and available money and existing expenses; the approximate cost of the transcript; and whether payment of this cost would deprive the party or his or her family of basic necessities. 
.5 	The panel shall issue a written decision on a waiver request, based upon the information contained in the statement of indigency or other relevant information contained in the record, within fifteen calendar days after the completed prescribed request has been received by the panel. If the appeal or the waiver request was not timely filed, this fifteen-day period shall not commence until an order accepting the untimely filing has been provided to the parties. Except as provided below, failure to issue such decision within this time limit shall be deemed a granting of the request. 
.6 	In ruling on a waiver request, the panel shall have the discretion to request or accept additional reliable evidence by such means as shall be deemed appropriate for resolution of the issue. If the panel requests additional information, the time period for issuing a decision on the waiver request shall be tolled until the information is received by the panel or the time limit imposed for providing the information has expired, whichever occurs sooner. 
.7 	If a request for waiver of the transcript costs is denied, the requesting party shall have twenty calendar days from the date the denial decision was provided to the party by the panel to either pay the approximate cost of the transcript or file a petition for review of the denial with the Court of Appeals, pursuant to 8-74-107, C.R.S. If a petition for review is filed, the requesting party shall have fifteen calendar days after the final action in the court proceedings in which to pay the approximate cost of the transcript. 
.8 	The cost of the preparation of the transcript of a hearing that occurs as a result of a remand order by the panel may be assigned to be borne by the division, if expressly so assigned by panel order, but otherwise shall be borne by the appealing party as provided in these regulations. 
.9 	If the payment of the approximate cost of the transcript by the appealing party exceeds the actual cost of the transcript, the excess payment shall be refunded without interest to the payor. If the actual cost of the transcript exceeds the payment received, the appealing party shall be assessed a charge for such excess cost that must be paid within fifteen days after the date notice of such charge was provided to the party by the panel. If this charge for excess cost is not timely paid, the appeal shall be dismissed, although it may be reinstated as provided in regulation 11.2.15.3, and the division shall retain all monies previously submitted by the appealing party. 
.10 	If a party withdraws his or her appeal after the panel has received payment or payments for the transcript, the panel may retain such payments in whole or in part according to the panel's assessment of its own costs in administrative time and expense in preparation of the transcript. 
.11 	Any act required by this regulation 11.2.15, except regulation 11.2.15.5, may be permitted outside the time periods set forth herein for good cause shown. 
.12 	Briefing Schedule. A “brief” for purposes of this rule, shall be any document apparently intended by an interested party to be a written argument. After the transcript of the hearing has been prepared, IF ANY, copies of the transcript shall be provided to the interested parties named in the caption of the hearing officer’s decision with a notice that the parties may submit a brief. IF A TRANSCRIPT HAS NOT BEEN REQUIRED, COPIES OF THE RECORDED HEARING TESTIMONY SHALL BE PROVIDED TO THE INTERESTED PARTIES NAMED IN THE CAPTION OF THE HEARING OFFICER’S DECISION WITH A NOTICE THAT THE PARTIES MAY SUBMIT A BRIEF.  Each named interested party may submit one brief within twelve calendar days after the date the notice was provided to the party by the panel. The panel may, in its discretion, permit the non-appealing party to file a brief in response to the brief filed by the appealing party. Such response brief must be filed with the panel within ten calendar days of the date of the panel’s notification, which shall be accompanied by a copy of the appealing party’s brief. Requests for extensions of time for the filing of briefs must be in writing as defined in rule 1.3.11.2 and will be granted only on a specific showing of inability to submit a brief within the time limits set forth herein. When a party files an appeal of a hearing officer’s decision in circumstances in which there is no transcript to be prepared, the appealing party shall submit its written argument, if any, with the appeal. 
.13 	None of the provisions of regulation 11.2.15 concerning transcript costs shall be effective unless the hearing officer’s decision being appealed includes the statement concerning the approximate cost of the transcript as provided in regulation 11.2.14. 

PART XII GOOD CAUSE
12.1.7 Appeals. If any interested party objects to a determination of the chief hearing officer or designee or the panel, based solely on written documents, that good cause exists for an untimely appeal from a deputy's decision; or objects to a determination of the chief hearing officer or designee or the panel, that excuses the failure to appear for a hearing or determines that good cause exists for an untimely request for a new hearing; or objects to a determination that good cause exists for accepting an untimely appeal and a new hearing is required because the complete record of the proceedings is no longer available, that interested party may present its objections at the hearing scheduled on the issues in dispute. The hearing officer SHALL will consider ALL INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF OR IN OPPOSITION TO THE GOOD CAUSE DETERMINATION PRESENTED BY THE INTERESTED PARTIES, INCLUDING all objections and responses and supporting evidence. The hearing officer shall and will determine if good cause exists for permitting the untimely appeal or excusing the failure to appear or excusing the untimely request for a new hearing based on the evidence presented.  However, if the hearing officer does not find the facts to be different than those already considered, the hearing officer shall not disturb the prior determination of good cause, and THE HEARING WILL PROCEED ON THE MERITS OF THE ISSUES IN DISPUTE. If good cause is not found OVERTURNED, the hearing will be terminated and any previously vacated hearing officer's decision on the merits of the appeal shall be reinstated. If good cause is found, the hearing will proceed on the merits of the issue in dispute. 
12.1.8 Substantive Guidelines. In determining whether good cause has been shown for permitting an untimely action or excusing the failure to act as required, the division and the panel may consider any relevant factors including, but not limited to, whether the party acted in the manner that a reasonably prudent individual would have acted under the same or similar circumstances, whether the untimely action or failure to act resulted from circumstances that would cause a reasonably careful individual to neglect a duty, whether the party received timely notice of the need to act, whether there was administrative error by the division, whether there were factors outside the control of the party that prevented a timely action or interfered with the opportunity to act, except that the acts and omissions of a party’s authorized representative are considered the acts and omissions of the party and are not considered to be a factor outside the party’s control as intended by this rule, the efforts made by the party to seek an extension of time by promptly notifying the division, the party's physical inability to act or take timely action, the length of time the action was untimely, whether any other interested party has been prejudiced by the failure to act or untimely action, the apparent merits of the party’s underlying position, and the overall interests of an accurate and fair resolution of the underlying issue to be decided. “Prejudice,” as used in this section, means that an interested party will be prevented FROM PRESENTING or substantially impaired in the ability to present hindered FROM presenting probative evidence in support of the interested party’s position or in the ability to refute the position of the opposing party. However, good cause cannot be established to accept or permit an untimely action or to excuse the failure to act, as required, that was caused by the party’s failure to keep the division directly and promptly informed by a written, signed statement of his or her current and correct mailing address in person, by mail, by facsimile machine, by division-approved electronic means, or by CUBLine, the division's interactive voice response system. This provision shall not apply if it is determined that the party reasonably believed that the division would not have any need for his or her new address under the circumstances or if the party was physically or mentally unable to provide the address in a prompt manner. A written decision concerning the existence of good cause need not contain findings of fact on every relevant factor, but the basis for the decision must be apparent from the order.

PART XVII EMPLOYEE MISCLASSIFICATION

17.1  MISCLASSIFICATION INVESTIGATIONS AND FINESCOMPLAINT PROCESS

17.1.1	Statutory Reference: 8-72-114 (3), C.R.S.

17.1.2	Written Order. Upon conclusion of a requested investigation of misclassification, the division shall issue a written order in conjunction with an audit report including any determination of the existence of an employment relationship.

17.1.3	Appeal From Determination. Any employer who wishes to appeal a determination made under the provisions of this part XVII of the regulations shall file a notice of appeal with the division. A hearing may be obtained in accordance with 8-76-113, C.R.S., and regulation 11.2.

17.1.4	The Division, prior to committing department resources to a full audit under the provision of this article, shall take into consideration whether the purported acts of misclassification are inconsistent with section 8-70-115 (b) C.R.S.

17.1.5	The Director shall not use an advisory opinion previously issued pursuant to section 8-72-114 (4) C.R.S. for the purposes of initiating an unemployment insurance audit.

17.1.5	Fine.  As described in 8-72-114 (3) (E) (III), C.R.S., a fine may be imposed on an employer who misclassified an employee with willful disregard for the law.  Such fine shall be imposed in the following manner:
.1 For the first instance of such misclassification, an employer shall be fined five percent of each of the MISCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE’S gross wages PAID DURING the last complete calendar year or one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, but the fine shall not exceed five thousand dollars per misclassified employee.
.2 For the second and any subsequent instance of such misclassification, an employer shall be fined twenty-five percent of each of the MISCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE’S gross wages PAID from the last complete calendar year or five hundred dollars, whichever is greater, but the fine shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars per misclassified employee.

17.2	NONBINDING ADVISORY OPINION

17.2.1	Statutory Reference: 8-72-114 (4)(A), C.R.S.

17.2.2	Issuance Of Advisory Opinion. An advisory opinion, described in 8-72-113 (4)(a), C.R.S., shall be issued only if:

.1	The employer completes and submits a request for a written advisory opinion using such filing methods as may be prescribed by the division; and

.2	Upon submitting the request for a written advisory opinion, the employer must submit a nonrefundable fee of $100; and

.3 	In conjunction with the request, as solicited by the division, the employer must provide information and evidence as described in 8-70-115, C.R.S.

17.2.3	The Director shall not use an advisory opinion previously issued pursuant to section 8-72-114 (4) C.R.S. for the purposes of initiating an unemployment insurance audit.