PURPOSE: This rule establishes the procedures for filing for arbitration under Missouri’s Prevailing Wage Law.

1. (1) An employer shall have forty-five (45) days from the date of notice of penalty for violations of sections 290.210 to 290.340, RSMo, to dispute the notice of penalty. Upon receipt of the written notice of dispute from the employer, the department shall notify the employer of its right to arbitration. Within ten (10) days of an employer’s notification of the right to arbitration, an employer that wishes to arbitrate the matter shall submit to the department a Request for Arbitration (Request) along with any filing fees required by the arbitration service provider. Request for Arbitration forms may be obtained by contacting the Division of Labor Standards. The date of submission of a Request is the date the Request is postmarked or the date the department receives the Request by facsimile. Within ten (10) days of the department’s receipt of a request under this rule, the department shall mail a copy of the Request along with the department’s guidelines for arbitration to the American Association of Arbitration (AAA) or other arbitration service provider if the other arbitration service provider is mutually agreed to by the parties. Included in this information shall be the department’s criteria for arbitrators relating to residence and cost per hour.
2. (2) The arbitration service provider shall promptly submit simultaneously to each party participating in the arbitration an identical list of names of seven (7) persons chosen from a panel of fifty (50) arbitrators that meet the geographic, cost and other criteria set by the department. Choosing the arbitrator from the list of seven (7) shall be done in conformance with standard AAA procedures or other arbitration procedures if the other procedures are mutually agreed to by the parties.
3. (3) No person shall serve as an arbitrator in any arbitration under these rules in which that person has any past or existing financial or personal interest in the result of the arbitration. Any prospective or designated arbitrator shall immediately disclose to the arbitration service provider any circumstance likely to affect impartiality, including any bias or financial or personal interest in the result of the arbitration. Such disclosure shall also include conflicts of interest that might arise after the arbitration process has already started. Upon the arbitrator service provider’s receipt of any circumstance likely to affect impartiality from the arbitrator or another source, the arbitration service provider shall communicate the circumstance to the parties. Upon objection of a party to the continued service of an arbitrator, the arbitration service provider shall, after consultation with the parties, determine whether the arbitrator should be disqualified and shall inform the parties of its decision, which shall be conclusive.
4. (4) For any filing or notice deadlines associated with arbitration under this rule that fall on Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday, the filing or notice shall be deemed timely if accomplished on the next day which is neither a Saturday, Sunday, nor a legal holiday.

AUTHORITY: section 290.240(2), RSMo 2000.* Emergency rule filed July 19, 2007, effective Aug. 28, 2007, expired Feb. 28, 2008. Original rule filed July 19, 2007, effective Feb. 29, 2008.

*Original authority: 290.240, RSMo 1957, amended 1969.