What Is 8 CCR §10832: Notices of Intention and Orders?

The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board may issue a notice of intention for any proper purpose, including but not limited to: (1) Allowing, disallowing or dismissing a lien; (2) Granting, denying or dismissing a petition; (3) Sanctioning a party; (4) Submitting the matter on the record; or (5) Dismissing an application.

What is an NOI?

It is the board's written heads-up that it plans to rule a certain way, before that ruling is final.

Picture a judge leaning toward a decision on a lien, a petition, or a sanction. The judge does not always have to hold a hearing first. The judge can instead issue an NOI that explains the planned ruling. This rulemaking power comes from Labor Code section 5307, the same statute behind the board's other rules of practice and procedure. The notice is usually served by designated service, the WCAB's formal delivery method for this document. That service gives you, or the other side, a real chance to weigh in before anything becomes final.

What kinds of rulings use an NOI?

Five, by the regulation's own list: liens, petitions, sanctions, deciding a case on the papers, and dismissing an application.

A lien claimant can receive an NOI proposing to allow, disallow, or dismiss their bill, the same kind of notice the lien conference guide on this site describes a judge using after a lien claimant skips a scheduled appearance. A party asking the board for something through a petition can get one proposing to grant, deny, or dismiss it. A party accused of bad-faith or frivolous tactics can get one proposing a sanction; a separate Labor Code rule allows a sanction of up to $2,500 for that. The board can also propose deciding the whole matter from the papers already on file, without a live hearing, or dismissing an application outright.

What should you do after you receive one?

Find the deadline stated in your own notice and treat it as real, since the regulation leaves that date to the notice itself rather than fixing one date for every case.

Read the notice for the proposed ruling, the reason given, and the date to respond. If you disagree, file a written objection before that date explaining why the proposed ruling is wrong, and keep proof of when you filed it. Missing the window is the biggest risk with this kind of notice, since the rule is built around letting a proposed ruling become final when nobody objects.

What happens if you object in time?

The board can side with you, rule against you with written reasons, or send the dispute to a hearing.

A timely objection gives the board three options under this regulation. It can sustain your objection, so the proposed ruling does not go forward. It can issue the order anyway, but only together with a written opinion that explains the decision. Or it can set the matter for a hearing, such as a status conference, so both sides can be heard.

What if nobody objects in time?

The proposed ruling becomes an order, served on the parties under a separate WCAB service rule.

Silence is not neutral under this rule. If the deadline in your notice passes without an objection, the board can issue the order it already described, and that order is then served the way any WCAB order is served. Treat an NOI as something with real consequences already attached, not a draft to revisit later.

How is this different from the required-appearance rule or a lien conference?

Those pages cover showing up in person; this one covers the paperwork that proposes a ruling without a hearing.

8 CCR 10752 covers who must personally show up at a hearing on your own case. A lien conference is a hearing a lien claimant usually does not have to attend in person. An NOI is a different tool. It lets the board propose a ruling in writing, on any of those matters, without a hearing unless someone objects.

How does Yazdchi Law help if you received an NOI?

Yazdchi Law P.C. reviews the proposed ruling and your deadline to object, from its office in Palmdale.

Call (661) 273-1780 or use the contact form for a free consultation. Bring the notice itself, with the date you received it, so the response deadline can be checked right away. The firm reviews each workers' compensation matter on its own facts before deciding whether to take it on.