There shall be within the Division of Employment Security a Board of Review consisting of three members, who shall act as a final appeals board in cases of benefit disputes, including appeals from determinations with respect to demands by the deputy for refunds of benefits pursuant to subsection (d) of R.S. 43:21-16, and who shall supervise the work of local appeal tribunals which may be organized pursuant to the unemployment compensation law. The members of the Board of Review shall be appointed by the director of the Division of Employment Security, subject to the approval of the commissioner, pursuant to the provisions of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes, Civil Service. No member of the Board of Review shall participate in any case in which the member is an interested party. The commissioner, at the commissioner's discretion, may on a temporary basis appoint three additional members to the Board of Review using either, or a combination of both, of the following two methods:
(1) interim appointment, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 4A:4-1.6(d)3, of State employees who hold full-time primary employment in State service or (2) appointment, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 4A:3-3.8, of individuals who do not hold full-time primary employment in State service to an intermittent title. If three additional members of the Board of Review are appointed by the commissioner on a temporary basis, increasing the membership of the Board of Review from three to six, the commissioner shall designate two separate panels from among the six members of the Board of Review, and each of the two panels shall be empowered to act independently of the other as a final appeals board in cases of benefit disputes, including appeals from determinations with respect to demands by the deputy for refunds of benefits pursuant to subsection (d) of R.S. 43:21-16. The commissioner may interchange panel members from among the six members of the Board of Review as operational needs dictate.Amended by L. 2024 , c. 77, s. 2, eff. 9/12/2024.L.1948, c.446, p.1770, s.19.