Post

—After conducting an administrative hearing on a wage claim brought by respondent herein, Jonathan Vos Post (hereafter Post), the Labor Commissioner (hereafter commissioner) served the parties with a notice of dismissal, on the ground that “[a]n employer-employee relationship between the parties was not conclusively established.” Post appealed, and the superior court ruled that he was an employee and awarded him unpaid wages. We granted review to address the question whether such appeal was properly taken. For the reasons stated below, we conclude that the answer is yes.

I

In August 1995, Post filed a complaint before the commissioner, pursuant to Labor Code section 98, to recover unpaid wages and expenses from defendants Palo/Haklar & Associates and individuals Paul Palo and Peter Haklar (hereafter Palo/Haklar) for the period of August 1, 1994, through April 1, 1995. The commissioner set the matter for hearing, and the parties were duly served with notice thereof. After the hearing, which lasted 18 hours over a two-day period, the commissioner took the matter under submission.

In May 1997, the commissioner served the parties with a document entitled “Notice of…