(a) The department may hold hearings to investigate a claim for wages. It may cooperate with an employee in the enforcement of a claim against the employer when it considers the claim just and valid.
(b) The authorized representative of the department, in conducting a hearing under this chapter, may administer oaths and examine witnesses under oath, issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, records, payrolls, and evidentiary documents, and may take depositions and affidavits in a proceeding before the department at the place most convenient to both employer and employee.
(c) If a person fails to comply with a subpoena or a witness refuses to testify to a matter regarding which the witness may be lawfully interrogated, the judge of a competent court may, on application by the department, compel obedience by proceedings for contempt as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued from the court or a refusal to testify before it.