When a hearing is held, including a petition to review
under Labor Code Section
1773.4, it
shall be in accordance with the following procedures:
(a) Hearing Procedures.
(1) A time and place of the hearing shall be
fixed.
(2) All interested parties
made known to the Director shall be notified by registered or certified mail,
return receipt requested, of the time and place of the hearing except that, in
the event of numerous interested parties or in the event that mailing notices
by registered or certified mail could cause an undue delay adverse to the
interest of the parties or a timely hearing, the Director may send certified or
registered notices to the petitioner and other directly interested parties that
have been made known to the Director and mail notices to the other parties, and
publish such notices in newspapers.
(3) Notification of the time and place of the
hearing shall be at least one week in advance.
(4) The interested parties shall be given an
opportunity to present evidence and oral or written arguments in support of
their positions. The hearing officer may fairly allocate time for such
witnesses' testimony in the interest of introducing relevant evidence. Cross
examination will be permitted at the discretion of the hearing
officer.
(5) The hearing need not
be conducted according to technical rules relating to evidence and
witnesses.
(6) All witnesses
testifying before the hearing officer shall testify under oath.
(7) A full transcript of the hearing shall be
recorded.
(b) Hearing
Officer. The Director may appoint a hearing officer(s). The appointed hearing
officer(s) shall conduct the hearing and submit to the Director the entire
record of the hearing together with written recommendations. Either the
appointed hearing officer(s) or the Director may request documentation
subsequent to the hearing to complete the record, and shall send copies of such
additional information to the petitioner, awarding body or other designated
interested party or parties.
(c)
Subject Matter. The subject matter of a hearing may be initiated by a petition
to review, as set forth in Labor Code Section
1773.4.
(d) Decision. The decision of the Director
shall reflect a summary of the evidence, findings, or matters of fact and/or
law.
The decision shall be sent to all parties no later than
20 days after the hearing, except earlier or later as special circumstances
warrant. The decision of the Director shall be final, for the purposes of
judicial review, except that the Director upon his or her initiative only, may
consider and take whatever action is appropriate or necessary to facilitate a
decision on reconsideration. Notice of reconsideration shall be given to all
parties in the same manner as the notice of hearings as specified in Sections
16304(a)(2) and
(a)(3) above and the decision upon
reconsideration shall be as specified in subdivisions (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this
section.