The compensation judge to whom a petition has been assigned for hearing, shall hear all competent, relevant evidence produced at the hearing. All questions of fact and law submitted to a compensation judge at the hearing shall be disposed of and the judge's decision shall be filed with the commissioner, except where expedited procedures require a shorter time, within 60 days after the submission, unless sickness or casualty prevents a timely filing, or the chief administrative law judge extends the time for good cause. The compensation judge's decision shall include a determination of all contested issues of fact and law and an award or disallowance of compensation or other order as the pleadings, evidence, this chapter and rule require. A compensation judge's decision shall include a memorandum only if necessary to delineate the reasons for the decision or to discuss the credibility of witnesses. A memorandum shall not contain a recitation of the evidence presented at the hearing but shall be limited to the compensation judge's basis for the decision.
No part of the salary of a compensation judge shall be paid unless the chief administrative law judge determines that all decisions of that judge have been issued within the time limits prescribed by this chapter.
History: 1953 c 755 s 54; 1969 c 276 s 2; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1975 c 359 s 23; 1976 c 134 s 78; 1981 c 346 s 114; 1983 c 290 s 149; 1984 c 640 s 32; 1987 c 332 s 90