Chapter 4.5. Division of Workers' Compensation
Subchapter 1. Administrative Director--Administrative Rules
Article 5.5.1. Utilization Review Standards

§ 9792.15. Administrative Penalties Pursuant to Labor Code 4610, 4610.5, and 4610.6 -- Order to Show Cause, Notice of Hearing, Determination and Order, and Review Procedure.

(a) Pursuant to Labor Code sections 4610(i), 4610.5(i), and 4610.6(k), the Administrative Director shall issue an Order to Show Cause Re: Assessment of Administrative Penalty when the Administrative Director, or his or her designee (the investigating unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation), has reason to believe that an employer, insurer or other entity subject to Labor Code sections 4610(i), 4610.5(i), and 4610.6(k), has failed to meet any of the requirements of this section or of any regulation adopted by the Administrative Director pursuant to the authority of sections 4610(i), 4610.5(i), and 4610.6(k),

(b) The order shall be in writing and shall include all of the following:

(1) Notice that an administrative penalty may be assessed;

(2) For administrative penalties assessed under section 4610(p), the final investigation report, which shall consist of the notice of utilization review penalty assessment, and, if applicable, one or more requests for documentation or compliance, and/or notice of the Administrative Director's intent to place the investigation subject on probation or to withdraw approval of the utilization review plan;

(3) For administrative penalties assessed under sections 4610.5(i) and 4610.6(k), the basis for the penalty assessment, including a statement of the alleged violations and the amount of each proposed penalty.

(4) A description of the methods for paying or appealing the penalty assessment.

(c) The order shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail.

(d) Within thirty (30) calendar days after the date of service of the Order to Show Cause Re: Assessment of Administrative Penalties, the claims administrator or utilization review organization may pay the assessed administrative penalties or file an answer as the respondent with the Administrative Director, in which the respondent may:

(1) Admit or deny in whole or in part any of the allegations set forth in the Order to Show Cause;

(2) Contest the amount of any or all proposed administrative penalties;

(3) Contest the existence of any or all of the violations;

(4) Set forth any affirmative and other defenses;

(5) Set forth the legal and factual bases for each defense.

(e) Any allegation and proposed penalty stated in the Order to Show Cause that is not contested shall be paid within thirty (30) calendar days after the date of service of the Order to Show Cause.

(f) Failure to timely file an answer shall constitute a waiver of the respondent's right to an evidentiary hearing. Unless set forth in the answer, all defenses to the Order to Show Cause shall be deemed waived. If the answer is not timely filed, within ten (10) days of the date for filing the answer, the respondent may file a written request for leave to file an answer. The respondent may also file a written request for leave to assert additional defenses, which the Administrative Director may grant upon a showing of good cause.

(g) The answer shall be in writing and signed by, or on behalf of, the claims administrator or utilization review organization and shall state the respondent's mailing address. It need not be verified or follow any particular form.

(1) The respondent must file the original and one copy of the answer on the Administrative Director and concurrently serve one copy of the answer on the investigating unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation (designated by the Administrative Director). The original and all copies of any filings required by this section shall have a proof of service attached.

(h) Within sixty (60) calendar days of the issuance of the Order to Show Cause Re: Assessment of Administrative Penalty, the Administrative Director shall issue the Notice of the date, time and place of a hearing. The date of the hearing shall be at least ninety calendar days from the date of service of the Notice. The Notice shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail. Continuances will not be allowed without a showing of good cause.

(i) At any time before the hearing, the Administrative Director may file or permit the filing of an amended complaint or supplemental Order to Show Cause. All parties shall be notified thereof. If the amended complaint or supplemental Order to Show Cause presents new charges, the Administrative Director shall afford the respondent a reasonable opportunity to prepare its defense, and the respondent shall be entitled to file an amended answer.

(j) At the Administrative Director's discretion, the Administrative Director may proceed with an informal pre-hearing conference with the respondent in an effort to resolve the contested matters. If any or all of the violations or proposed penalties in the Order to Show Cause, the amended Order or the supplemental Order remain contested, those contested matters shall proceed to an evidentiary hearing.

(k) Whenever the Administrative Director's Order to Show Cause has been contested, the Administrative Director may designate a hearing officer to preside over the hearing. The authority of the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall include, but is not limited to: conducting a pre-hearing settlement conference; setting the date for an evidentiary hearing and any continuances; issuing subpoenas for the attendance of any person residing anywhere within the state as a witness or party at any pre-hearing conference and hearing; issuing subpoenas duces tecum for the production of documents and things at the hearing; presiding at the hearings; administering oaths or affirmations and certifying official acts; ruling on objections and motions; issuing pre-hearing orders; and preparing a Recommended Determination and Opinion based on the hearing.

(l) The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall set the time and place for any pre-hearing conference on the contested matters in the Order to Show Cause, and shall give sixty (60) calendar days written notice to all parties.

(m) The pre-hearing conference may address one or more of the following matters:

(1) Exploration of settlement possibilities;

(2) Preparation of stipulations;

(3) Clarification of issues;

(4) Rulings on the identity of witnesses and limitation of the number of witnesses;

(5) Objections to proffers of evidence;

(6) Order of presentation of evidence and cross-examination;

(7) Rulings regarding issuance of subpoenas and protective orders;

(8) Schedules for the submission of written briefs and schedules for the commencement and conduct of the hearing;

(9) Any other matters as shall promote the orderly and prompt conduct of the hearing.

(n) The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall issue a pre-hearing order incorporating the matters determined at the pre-hearing conference. The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer may direct one or more of the parties to prepare the pre-hearing order.

(o) Not less than thirty (30) calendar days prior to the date of the evidentiary hearing, the respondent shall file and serve the original and one copy of a written statement with the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer specifying the legal and factual bases for its answer and each defense, listing all witnesses the respondent intends to call to testify at the hearing, and appending copies of all documents and other evidence the respondent intends to introduce into evidence at the hearing. A copy of the written statement and its attachments shall also concurrently be served on the investigating unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation. If the written statement and supporting evidence are not timely filed and served, the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall dismiss the answer and issue a written Determination based on the evidence provided by the investigating unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation. Within ten (10) calendar days of the date for filing the written statement and supporting evidence, the respondent may file a written request for leave to file a written statement and supporting evidence. The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer may grant the request, upon a showing of good cause. If leave is granted, the written statement and supporting evidence must be filed and served no later than ten (10) calendar days prior to the date of the hearing.

(p) Oral testimony shall be taken only on oath or affirmation.

(q)(1) Each party shall have these rights: to call and examine witnesses, to introduce exhibits; to cross-examine opposing witnesses on any matter relevant to the issues even though that matter was not covered in the direct examination; to impeach any witness regardless of which party first called him or her to testify; and to rebut the evidence.

(2) In the absence of a contrary order by the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer, the investigating unit of the Division of Workers' Compensation shall present evidence first.

(3) The hearing need not be conducted according to the technical rules relating to evidence and witnesses, except as hereinafter provided. Any relevant evidence shall be admitted if it is the sort of evidence on which responsible persons are accustomed to rely in the conduct of serious affairs, regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make the admission of the evidence improper over objection in civil actions.

(4) Hearsay evidence may be used for the purpose of supplementing or explaining other evidence but upon timely objection shall not be sufficient in itself to support a finding unless it would be admissible over objection in civil actions. An objection is timely if made before submission of the case to the Administrative Director or to the designated hearing officer.

(r) The written affidavit or declaration of any witness may be offered and shall be received into evidence provided that (i) the witness was listed in the written statement pursuant to section 9792.15(n); (ii) the statement is made by affidavit or by declaration under penalty of perjury; (iii) copies of the statement have been delivered to all opposing parties at least twenty (20) days prior to the hearing; and (iv) no opposing party has, at least ten (10) days before the hearing, delivered to the proponent of the evidence a written demand that the witness be produced in person to testify at the hearing. The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall disregard any portion of the statement received pursuant to this regulation that would be inadmissible if the witness were testifying in person, but the inclusion of inadmissible matter does not render the entire statement inadmissible. Upon timely demand for production of a witness in lieu of admission of an affidavit or declaration, the proponent of that witness shall ensure the witness appears at the scheduled hearing and the proffered declaration or affidavit from that witness shall not be admitted. If the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer determines that good cause exists that prevents the witness from appearing at the hearing, the declaration may be introduced in evidence, but it shall be given only the same effect as other hearsay evidence.

(s) The Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer shall issue a written Determination and Order Assessing Penalty, if any, including a statement of the basis for the Determination and each penalty assessed, within sixty (60) days of the date the case was submitted for decision, which shall be served on all parties. This requirement is directory and not jurisdictional.

(t) The Administrative Director shall have sixty (60) calendar days to adopt or modify the Determination and Order Assessing Penalty issued by the Administrative Director or the designated hearing officer. In the event the recommended Determination and Order of the designated hearing officer is modified, the Administrative Director shall include a statement of the basis for the Determination and Order Assessing Penalty signed and served by the Administrative Director, or his or her designee. If the Administrative Director does not act within sixty (60) calendar days, then the recommended Determination and Order shall become the Determination and Order on the sixty-first calendar day.

(u) The Determination and Order Assessing Penalty shall be served on all parties personally or by registered or certified mail by the Administrative Director.

(v) The Determination and Order Assessing Penalty, if any, shall become final on the day it is served, unless the aggrieved party files a timely Petition Appealing the Determination of the Administrative Director. All findings and assessments in the Determination and Order Assessing Penalty not contested in the Petition Appealing the Determination of the Administrative Director shall become final as though no petition were filed.

(w) At any time prior to the date the Determination and Order Assessing Penalty becomes final, the Administrative Director or designated hearing officer may correct the Determination and Order Assessing Penalty for clerical, mathematical or procedural error(s).

(x) Penalties assessed in a Determination and Order Assessing Penalty shall be paid within thirty (30) calendar days of the date the Determination and Order became final. A timely filed Petition Appealing the Determination of the Administrative Director shall toll the period for paying the penalty assessed for the item appealed.

(y) All appeals from any part or the entire Determination and Order Assessing Penalty shall be made in the form of a Petition Appealing the Determination of the Administrative Director, in conformance with the requirements of chapter 7, part 4 of Division 4 of the Labor Code. Any such Petition Appealing the Determination of the Administrative Director shall be filed at the Appeals Board in San Francisco (and not with any district office of the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board), in the same manner specified for petitions for reconsideration.

Credits

Note: Authority cited: Sections 133, 4610, 4610.5, 4610.6 and 5307.3, Labor Code. Reference: Sections 129, 129.5, 4062, 4600, 4600.4, 4604.5, 4610, 4610.5, 4610.6, 4614 and 5300, Labor Code.

History

1. New section filed 6-7-2007; operative 6-7-2007 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4 (Register 2007, No. 23).

2. Amendment of section heading and subsections (a) and (b)(2), new subsections (b)(3)-(4) and amendment of Note filed 2-12-2014; operative 2-12-2014 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2014, No. 7).

3. Amendment of subsection (b)(2) filed 12-30-2025; operative 4-1-2026 (Register 2026, No. 1).