The bureau shall appoint one or more impartial appeal examiners known as the appeal tribunal, who shall hear and decide appealed claims. Each such tribunal shall consist of a referee selected in accordance with chapter 52-02, or a body composed of three members, one of whom must be a referee who shall serve as chairman and who must be a salaried full-time member of the staff of the job insurance division, and one of whom must be a representative of employers, and the other of whom must be a representative of employees. Each of the latter two members may be selected without regard to section 52-02-06 and shall serve at the pleasure of the bureau and be paid a fee of twenty-five dollars per day of active service on such tribunal, plus necessary expenses. The bureau 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 or member's alternates. In no case may the hearings proceed unless the chairman of the appeal tribunal is present.
N.D.C.C. § 52-06-14