The chairperson shall assign cases before the board to any two members of the board for consideration and decision. Assignments by the chairperson of members to the cases shall be rotated so as to equalize the workload of the members, but with the composition of the members so assigned being varied and changed to assure that there shall never be a fixed and continuous composition of members. Except as otherwise provided, the decision of the two members assigned the case shall be the decision of the appeals board. In the event that the two members do not concur in the decision, the chairperson or another member of the board designated by the chairperson shall be assigned to the panel and shall resolve the impasse. A case shall be considered and decided by the appeals board acting as a whole at the request of any member of the appeals board.

The appeals board shall meet as a whole when the chairperson may direct to consider and pass on any matters that the chairperson may bring before it, and to consider and decide cases that present issues of first impression or that will enable the appeals board to achieve uniformity of decisions by the respective members.

The appeals board, acting as a whole, may designate certain of its decisions as precedents. Precedent decisions of the appeals board are subject to Section 11425.60 of the Government Code. The appeals board, acting as a whole, may, on its own motion, reconsider a previously issued decision solely to determine whether or not the decision shall be designated as a precedent decision. Decisions of the appeals board acting as a whole shall be by a majority vote of its members. The director and the appeals board administrative law judges shall be controlled by those precedents except as modified by judicial review. If the appeals board issues decisions other than those designated as precedent decisions, anything incorporated in those decisions shall be physically attached to and be made a part of the decisions. The appeals board may make a reasonable charge as it deems necessary to defray the costs of publication and distribution of its precedent decisions and index of precedent decisions.

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 938, Sec. 88. Effective January 1, 1996. Operative July 1, 1997, by Sec. 98 of Ch. 938.)