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:

Last week the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced the suspension and review of the new EEO-1 pay data reporting requirement for EEO-1 reports due on March 31, 2018.

For years, employers with at least 100 employees have been required to complete and submit EEO-1 reports of their employees by race, ethnicity and gender.  Last year the EEO-1 report was expanded to include employee hours and pay data.  The intent of the pay data reporting requirement was to disclose pay gaps so that possible pay discrimination practices could be investigated.

While the pay data ...

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that the Obama-era administrative interpretations regarding joint employment and the classification of a worker as an independent contractor or employee has been withdrawn.

The guidance regarding the independent contractor classification had indicated that most workers were employees, and not independent contractors.  As for the interpretation of joint employment, which can arise when people work for 2 or more entities which share control over the individuals’ work, the withdrawn guidance had reflected that the ...

As a reminder, all California employers must provide the newly issued Rights of Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking notice to new employees upon hire and to current employees on request.

You can find the new notice HERE in English, and HERE in Spanish.

The notice informs employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking of various rights and protections, including the right to: unpaid time off to obtain legal relief (e.g., a restraining order); freedom from employer retaliation or discrimination due to their victim status; and ...