The hearing officer shall not be bound by common law or statutory rules of evidence or by technical or formal rules of procedure in the conduct of hearings. He shall have authority to administer oaths, issue subpoenas, rule upon offers of evidence and otherwise so regulate the course of the hearings as to preserve fundamental concepts of fairness and to effectuate the purposes and provisions of the Act.
N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 13 § 52.10