TWC’s Commission Appeals (CA) department’s mission statement is to support the three Commissioners of TWC in resolving administrative appeals related to Unemployment Insurance, Wage Claims and other programs administered by TWC, by receiving higher authority administrative appeals, recommending resolution of these appeals, administering the Commissioners’ weekly docket, and disseminating decisions made by the Commissioners. CA is the higher of two (2) levels of appeal available within TWC to parties affected by TWC’s administrative determinations. CA’s primary responsibility is advising the three Commissioners of TWC in the resolution of these higher-level appeals. After the Appeal Tribunal (TWC’s lower appeals authority) issues a decision, parties may appeal to the Commission. CA administers these appeals for the Commission. An attorney will listen to the recording of the lower authority hearing, review all documents related to the case and make a recommendation on how the case should be resolved by the Commission. The attorney drafts a summary, a decision and any other necessary documentation, which is forwarded to the Commission offices for review. The Commission offices may request a supplemental summary if more information is desired than originally provided. The attorney who originally worked the case is responsible for producing the supplemental summary. After the Commissioners vote on a case, the attorney is also responsible for rewriting the decision should the vote differ from the attorney’s recommendation. Training and guidance materials are provided to attorneys, but due to the high complexity of the work, attorneys require considerable mentoring and oversight, and their work requires expert-level review, for a considerable time after hire. The CA department has a high proportion of new hire attorneys, and the experienced staff available to mentor and support them is insufficient to maintain productivity expectations. To reduce backlog, TWC Commission Appeals requires highly experienced, expert Mentors for Reviewing Attorneys (RA’s), to review RA work product, and make and administer training recommendations/assistance based on review of RA work product.
