Opinion ID: 2543911
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Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Overview of Berman hearing procedure

Text: We begin with a brief review of the procedural context in which this dispute arose. As previously noted, under the Labor Code, If an employer fails to pay wages in the amount, time or manner required by contract or by statute, the employee has two principal options. The employee may seek judicial relief by filing an ordinary civil action against the employer for breach of contract and/or for the wages prescribed by statute. (§§ 218, 1194.) Or the employee may seek administrative relief by filing a wage claim with the commissioner pursuant to a special statutory scheme codified in sections 98 to 98.8. ( Cuadra v. Millan, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 858, 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 687, 952 P.2d 704, disapproved on another ground in Samuels v. Mix (1999) 22 Cal.4th 1, 16, fn. 4, 91 Cal.Rptr.2d 273, 989 P.2d 701.) The commissioner, who is Chief of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (§ 21), has broad authority to investigate employee complaints and to conduct hearings in actions to recover wages, penalties, and other demands for compensation ....(§ 98, subd. (a).) Recently, in Post v. Palo/Haklar & Associates (2000) 23 Cal.4th 942, 946-948, 98 Cal.Rptr.2d 671, 4 P.3d 928, we summarized the key statutory procedures that govern wage order claims filed with the commissioner: The commissioner may investigate complaints; his or her powers include the right to make inspections, subpoena witnesses and documents, and conduct examinations of witnesses. (See Lab.Code, §§ 74, 92.) Within 30 days of the filing of a complaint, the commissioner must notify parties as to whether he or she will take further action. ( Id., § 98, subd. (a).) The statute provides for three alternatives: the commissioner may either accept the matter and conduct an administrative hearing (see id., §§ 98-98.2), prosecute a civil action for the collection of wages and other money payable to employees arising out of an employment relationship (see id., § 98.3), or take no further action on the complaint. ( Id., § 98, subd. (a).) If the commissioner decides to accept the matter and conduct an administrative hearingcommonly known as a `Berman hearing' after the name of its sponsor, then Assemblyman Howard Bermanhe or she must hold the hearing within 90 days, although he or she has discretion to `postpone or grant additional time before setting a hearing if the [commissioner] finds that it would lead to an equitable and just resolution of the dispute.' (Lab.Code, § 98, subd.(a).) Labor Code section 98, subdivision (a), expressly declares the legislative intent that hearings be conducted `in an informal setting preserving the right of the parties.' The Berman hearing procedure is designed to provide a speedy, informal, and affordable method of resolving wage claims. ( Cuadra v. Millan, supra, 17 Cal.4th at p. 858, 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 687, 952 P.2d 704.) As we explained in Cuadra, `the purpose of the Berman hearing procedure is to avoid recourse to costly and time-consuming judicial proceedings in all but the most complex of wage claims.' ( Id at p. 869, 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 687, 952 P.2d 704.) The commissioner is required to determine all matters arising under his or her jurisdiction, including questions concerning the employment status of the claimant. (Lab.Code, § 98, subd. (a); see also Resnik v. Anderson & Miles (1980) 109 Cal. App.3d 569, 572, 167 Cal.Rptr. 340 [`Labor Code sections 96 and 98, subdivision (a), expressly allow the [commissioner] to take assignment of employee claims with the authority to resolve all matters within its jurisdiction.'].) Indeed, as a predicate for awarding a claim for unpaid wages, the commissioner must necessarily determine that the claimant was an employee. (1 Wilcox, Cal. Employment Law (2000) § 1.04[l][a], p. 1-9 [`An employment relationship must exist in order for the California wage orders or the provisions of the Labor Code governing wages ... to be applicable.' (Fn.omitted.) ].) Within 15 days after the Berman hearing is concluded, the commissioner must file a copy of his or her order, decision, or award and serve notice thereof on the parties. (Lab.Code, § 98.1.) The order, decision, or award must include a summary of the hearing and the reasons for the decision, and must advise the parties of their right to appeal. ( Ibid. ) Within 10 days after service of notice, the parties may seek review by filing an appeal to the municipal or superior court `in accordance with the appropriate rules of jurisdiction, where the appeal shall be heard de novo.' (Labor Code, § 98.2, subd. (a).) The timely filing of a notice of appeal forestalls the commissioner's decision, terminates his or her jurisdiction, and vests jurisdiction to conduct a hearing de novo in the appropriate court. ( Pressler v. Donald L. Bren Co. (1982) 32 Cal.3d 831, 835, 187 Cal.Rptr. 449, 654 P.2d 219.) If ho party takes an appeal, the commissioner's decision will be deemed a judgment, final immediately and enforceable as a judgment in a civil action. (Lab.Code, § 98.2, subd. (a); see generally 1 Wilcox, Cal. Employment Law, supra, §§ 5.10 to 5.19, pp. 5-18 to 5-52.) Although denoted an `appeal,' unlike a conventional appeal in a civil action, hearing under the Labor Code is de novo. (Lab.Code, § 98.2, subd. (a).) `A hearing de novo [under Labor Code section 98.2] literally means a new hearing, that is, a new trial' ( Pressler v. Donald L. Bren Co., supra, 32 Cal.3d at p. 835, 187 Cal.Rptr. 449, 654 P.2d 219.) The decision of the commissioner is `entitled to no weight whatsoever, and the proceedings are truly a trial anew in the fullest sense.' ( Sales Dimensions v. Superior Court (1979) 90 Cal.App.3d 757, 763, 153 Cal.Rptr. 690.) The decision of the trial court, after de novo hearing, is subject to a conventional appeal to an appropriate appellate court. (1 Wilcox, Cal. Employment Law, supra, § 5.18[2][a], p. 5-46.) Review is of the facts presented to the trial court, which may include entirely new evidence. (See Nordquist v. McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Co. [, supra ,] 32 Cal.App.4th 555, 561, 38 Cal.Rptr.2d 221, 1 Wilcox, Cal. Employment Law, supra, § 5.18[3], p. 5-49.) (Post v. Palo/Haklar & Associates, supra, 23 Cal.4th at pp. 946-948, 98 Cal. Rptr.2d 671, 4 P.3d 928.) Section 98.2(c) provides for an award of attorney fees and costs against a party who appeals the commissioner's award through a trial de novo in the superior court and is unsuccessful in the appeal. (§ 98.2(c).) [6] Our task then is to construe this fee-shifting provision, which each party interprets differently, particularly, as here, in the context of an employee's appeal of a commissioner's award partially in his or her favor. Because the issue involves the proper interpretation of a statute and its application to undisputed facts, we do so through independent review. (Cf. Californians for Population Stabilization v. Hewlett-Packard Co. (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 273, 294, 67 Cal.Rptr.2d 621 [The interpretation of this attorney's fees statute [§ 218.5] and its application to the circumstances in this case are questions of law, subject to independent review on appeal].)