(a) Policy. Settlement is permitted and encouraged by the Commission at any stage of the proceedings.

(b) Requirements—(1) Notification of Settlement. If the parties have agreed to a partial or full settlement, they shall so notify the Judge in a written joint submission (titled “Notification of Settlement” or “Notification of Partial Settlement,” as appropriate), in which the parties shall:

(i) List the contested items that have been settled and, if only a partial settlement agreement has been reached, also list the contested items that remain to be decided;

(ii) If posting of the settlement agreement is required by § 2200.7(g), certify that the parties' settlement agreement has been posted in the manner prescribed by that rule and certify the date of posting;

(iii) If party status has been elected under § 2200.20, certify that the party has been afforded an opportunity to provide input on all matters pertaining to the settlement before the agreement is finalized; and

(iv) If the settlement agreement includes the withdrawal of a notice of contest, citation, notification of proposed penalty, or petition for modification of abatement period, state whether such withdrawal is with prejudice.

(2) The parties shall not incorporate the settlement agreement in, or append it to, the joint submission required in paragraph (b)(1) of this section or substitute the settlement agreement for the required joint submission.

(3) Issuance of order terminating proceeding. If the requirements of paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) of this section have been met with respect to all contested citation items and no affected employees who have elected party status have raised an objection to the reasonableness of any abatement period, the Judge shall issue an Order acknowledging that the parties have resolved all contested citation items and agreed to terminate the proceeding before the Commission.

(c) Filing; service and notice. A Notification of Settlement submitted after a Judge's report has been issued shall be filed with the Executive Secretary. Proof of service shall be filed with the Notification of Settlement, showing service upon all parties and authorized employee representatives in the manner prescribed by § 2200.7(c) and (d) and the posting of notice to non-party affected employees in the manner prescribed by § 2200.7(g). The parties shall also file a draft order terminating the proceedings for adoption by the Judge or, if the Judge's report has been issued, by the Commission. If the time has not expired under these rules for electing party status, an order acknowledging the termination of the proceedings before the Commission because of the settlement shall not be issued until at least 14 days after service or posting to consider any affected employee's or authorized employee representative's objection to the reasonableness of any abatement time. The affected employee or authorized employee representative shall file any such objection within this time. If such objection is filed, the Commission or the Judge shall provide an opportunity for the affected employees or authorized employee representative to be heard and present evidence on the objection, which shall be limited to the reasonableness of the abatement period.