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Defending Workers' Rights
Enacted in 2004, the purpose of the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) was to increase enforcement of the Labor Code by “deputizing” citizens to act as private attorneys general and allowing them to pursue civil penalties on behalf of the state for Labor Code violations. This private enforcement mechanism was meant to help address the reality that labor enforcement agencies could not keep up with the growth of the labor market and the number of Labor Code violations and alarming wage theft occurring in workplaces.
PAGA fights wage theft when the state is unable or unwilling to step in.
PAGA has been a useful tool for low-wage workers to enforce their labor rights by filing lawsuits on behalf of a group or “class” of employees who have suffered Labor Code violations, such as unpaid wages, missed meal and rest breaks, non-compliant wage statements, and overtime violations.
PAGA preserves employees’ rights in the wake of forced arbitration.
Since its enactment, PAGA has been under constant attack by corporate interests. PAGA actions are unique because they are protected from forced arbitration, a fact that has made PAGA more vulnerable to attack by corporate interests. Consumer and employment attorneys, labor unions and low-wage worker groups have worked to defend PAGA and the important protections it provides for low-wage workers in our state.
PAGA has very strict requirements in place to avoid abuse.
To bring a PAGA claim, the employee must meet the formal notice and waiting requirements specified under Labor Code section 2698, et seq. The employee must submit a PAGA claim notice to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”) and give the agency time to review the notice and decide whether it wishes to investigate the claim. If, and only if, the LWDA chooses not to investigate, or does not otherwise respond to the claim notice or issue a citation within 65 days, the employee is then entitled to bring a PAGA action in court. For certain violations, the employer has a 33-day window to cure the violation and avoid an enforcement action.
Once the case proceeds to court (again because the LWDA is unable or unwilling to take the case), any civil penalties recovered from an employer in a PAGA action are divided with the LWDA, with the state receiving 75 percent and the aggrieved employees receiving 25 percent. Attorney fees can also be recovered for successful PAGA claims.
A 2020 UCLA Labor Center report on PAGA wrote: “These cases also allow the state to collect millions of dollars in penalties from lawbreaking employers who would otherwise profit from exploiting workers. As this report details, in 2019, the state collected over $88 million in PAGA penalties.” This funding is crucial in helping the LWDA enforce the law.
For more information on PAGA, please see the UCLA Labor Center report “California’s Hero Labor Law” at https://www.labor.ucla.edu/publication/paga/.
