To hear and decide disputed benefit claims, including appeals from determinations with respect to demands by the deputy for refunds of benefits under section 43:21-16(d) of the Revised Statutes, the director of the Division of Employment Security, with the approval of the Commissioner of Labor and Industry, shall establish one or more impartial appeal tribunals consisting in each case of either a salaried examiner or a body consisting of three members, one of whom shall be a salaried examiner, who shall serve as chairman, one of whom shall be a representative of employers and the other of whom shall be a representative of employees; each of the latter two members shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioner and be paid a fee of not more than twenty dollars ($20.00) per day of active service on such tribunal plus necessary expenses. No person shall participate on behalf of the division in any case in which he is an interested party. The director of the Division of Employment Security may designate alternates to serve in the absence or disqualification of any member of an appeal tribunal. The chairman shall act alone in the absence or disqualification of any other member and his alternates. In no case shall the hearings proceed unless the chairman of the appeal tribunal is present.
Disputed claims for benefits under approved private plans established in accordance with the Temporary Disability Benefits Law shall be heard, reviewed, and determined as provided in section 26(a) of that act.
N.J.S. § 34:1A-20