Question: I represent a creditor who had sued an entity before it was put into receivership. The court has established a claims procedure, and the receiver has sent out claim forms. Can I sign the claim form on behalf of my client or is it better to have my client sign?

Answer: Receivership cases and bankruptcy cases often require creditors to file proofs of claim. Because it may be easier, quicker and cheaper, attorneys for creditors sometimes sign and file the proofs of claim. While this is explicitly allowed in bankruptcy cases under Bankruptcy Rule 3001(b), and there is no ...

Beginning on January 1, 2019,  Assembly Bill 1066 phases in overtime for agricultural workers over a four year period, ultimately making these workers eligible for overtime pay at one and one-half (1-½) times their regular rate after eight hours per day, rather than the current ten hours. Employers who employ 25 or fewer employees will have an additional three years to comply with the phasing-in of these overtime requirements and will be required to meet the same phased in standards mentioned below commencing on January 1, 2022.

More specifically, in 2019, employers with more than 25 ...

Senate Bill 621 will become effective on January 1, 2018.  The bill amends Labor Code section 515.8 and is intended to address the ambiguities in Assembly Bill 2230 which was enacted last year.  AB 2230 had set a new earnings standards for designating private school teachers as exempt from overtime which were based on the employee earning a monthly salary equivalent to the greater of no less than the lowest salary offered by any school district or the equivalent of no less than 70% of the lowest schedule salary offered by the school district or county office of education in which the private ...

Question: I have been appointed receiver to collect a judgment. The judgment is on appeal. I am concerned that if the judgment is reversed my fees might be in jeopardy. Am I entitled to keep the fees I have been paid even if the underlying judgment is reversed?

Answer: You should be o.k., so long as the court which appointed you had jurisdiction to do so. In a recent bankruptcy case, In Re Patrick Cox, 2017 W.L. 1058263 (Bankr. S. D. Texas 2017), the State of Texas obtained a $46 million judgment against the debtor in state court prior to the debtor filing bankruptcy. The state court ...

Assembly Bill 1701 (AB 1701) provides a “direct contractor” is liable for the wages, benefits and contributions (plus interest) owed by its subcontractor(s), even if the subcontractor has been paid for the work.  A “direct contractor” is defined to mean a contractor that has a direct contractual relationship with an owner; a “subcontractor” is defined as a contractor without a direct contractual relationship with an owner.  The law applies to all private construction contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018.  

AB 1701 does not, however, provide wage claimants ...

Effective January 1, 2018, California Assembly Bill 168 (AB 168) prohibits asking job applicants about their salary history (including other forms of compensation and benefits), or otherwise seeking this information.  Further, employers may not rely on salary history as a factor in determining whether to offer employment to an applicant, or the salary the employer will offer an applicant.  Although the law permits employers to consider salary history if an applicant voluntarily and without prompting discloses this information, employers should proceed cautiously based on a ...

The Trump Administration’s termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program could have a negative, costly impact on employers.  The DACA program protects nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived as children from deportation and gives them legal status to work in the U.S.  Unless the employee can show some other valid form of employment eligibility, employers will need to terminate DACA recipients once their currently valid employment authorization document, Form I-766, expires.  Some estimates show that the end of DACA will cost employers ...

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently issued an updated sexual harassment brochure (DFEH-185), which replaces the prior version. The DFEH also provided this information in an easy-to-print poster form (DFEH-185P).

Either the new poster or updated brochure will fulfill the employer’s obligation to provide employees with an information sheet regarding sexual harassment under state law.  Employers should provide all new employees with the updated brochure or new poster upon hire, and current employees should also be provided the newly ...

All California employers must report their newly hired or rehired employees who work in California to the California Employment Development Department (EDD).  Reporting is done using the EDD’s Report of New Employees form, which was recently updated and can be found HERE (along with instructions for completion).

Reporting is aimed at locating parents not providing child financial support as obligated.  For general information regarding reporting requirements, including how to report, multi-state employers, etc., check the EDD’s New Employment Registry site found HERE.

Question: I am a receiver appointed to collect a substantial judgment. The judgment debtor’s home has appreciated since the entry of the judgment five years ago. Can I list the house with a broker and, once a buyer is located, petition the court to approve the sale? The judgment debtor claims he has a homestead exemption and that I can only sell the house if I comply with homestead statute, which requires the sale be in accordance with the provisions for execution sales. Is that correct? I thought, as receiver, I can sell property using other methods, so long as I get court approval.

Answer: