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Agricultural Labor Relations Board reviews draft cash-deposit appeal-bond forms under new law
Summary
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board reviewed draft "agreement in lieu of appeal bond" and receipt forms required by Labor Code section 1160.11 (AB 113, 2023), discussed who will process cash deposits and described procedural details including a 10-day payment requirement and acceptable instruments.
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board reviewed draft appeal-bond forms and discussed procedures for handling cash deposits required by Labor Code section 1160.11, added by AB 113 in 2023.
Santiago, the board’s executive secretary, told the board that the two draft forms — titled "agreement in lieu of appeal bond" and "receipt in lieu of appeal bond" — are posted as drafts on the board’s meetings webpage to permit formatting, grammar and other nonsubstantive edits. He said the forms were created to implement the statutory requirement and related board regulation 20297.5.
The forms are intended for situations in which an agricultural employer chooses to provide a cash deposit instead of a surety appeal bond. Santiago said the statute and regulation require employers to post a bond equal to the "entire economic value" of a final board decision ordering a monetary remedy; the cash-deposit forms set out the information the board must collect and certain affirmations the employer’s representative must make. He said the agreement requires the employer to pay the board the amount due within 10 days after a final decision on a petition for review, and that failure to make timely payment could result in forfeiture of the deposit, either partially or in full.
Santiago described the receipt process and acceptable instruments. "We would issue an immediate acknowledgement of receipt of the cash equivalent; however, we would later follow with a receipt for the amount once the deposit is made and cleared," he said. The forms list cashier's checks, personal checks and money orders as acceptable instruments; Santiago said administrative and technology services would ensure funds are deposited into an interest-bearing account.
Board members asked how deposits would be processed and which office would accept them. Santiago said the regulations direct employers to contact the executive secretary’s office to arrange a cash deposit; the executive secretary or a designated board agent would likely meet with the employer to receive the deposit, and administrative and technology services staff would handle account and deposit logistics.
A board member asked whether the board’s forms mirror the Labor Commissioner’s wage-bond practices. Santiago said the working group reviewing the forms looked at the labor commissioner’s processes and adopted some form elements, but noted that the ALB’s statute explicitly contemplates cash as an option in a way that differs from the labor commissioner’s practice.
No members of the public made comments during the open public-comment window. The board recessed into closed session and later returned with only routine announcements, including scheduling the next meeting for April 29 at 10:00 a.m. in Sacramento (also available via Zoom).
