You may have noticed that your paycheck does not reflect all the hours you worked. Perhaps meal breaks are automatically deducted even when you cannot take them, or employees are expected to finish assignments after clocking out.
When the same practice affects other people at work, the problem may go beyond an individual payroll dispute. California’s Private Attorneys General Act, known as PAGA, allows eligible employees to pursue civil penalties on behalf of the state for Labor Code violations affecting themselves and other employees. It is one way workers can help enforce protections that employers are required to follow.
Helping Employees Hold Employers Accountable for Labor Code Violations
At Bisnar Chase, our employment law team represents employees in wage-and-hour disputes, class actions, and PAGA matters. Firm partner Ian Silvers has handled cases involving unpaid wages, missed meal and rest breaks, inaccurate wage statements, and other workplace violations.
You do not need to know which Labor Code section applies before speaking with an attorney. Start with what happened: the work you performed, how you were paid, and what your employer required. Our California PAGA lawyers will help build your case and fight for your rights.
Call 800-561-4887 for a free consultation about a potential California PAGA claim.
California PAGA Lawyers: Resources
What is PAGA?
PAGA is a California law that authorizes eligible employees to bring lawsuits seeking civil penalties for violations of the California Labor Code.
In a PAGA action, the employee acts on behalf of the state to help enforce labor laws. A portion of the penalties recovered is distributed to affected employees. That is different from a lawsuit seeking only your unpaid wages.
For example, if an employer fails to pay overtime, an employee may have a claim to recover the overtime owed. Depending on the facts and applicable requirements, the same conduct may also support a PAGA claim for civil penalties. Those are different remedies, even when they arise from the same workplace practice.
Understanding that distinction matters. A PAGA claim should not be evaluated in isolation if you may also have unpaid wages or other employment claims.
Workplace Problems That May Support a PAGA Claim
PAGA claims often involve the way an employer tracks working time, pays employees, provides breaks, or maintains wage statements. California’s current PAGA procedures expressly address violations involving minimum wages, overtime, meal and rest breaks, necessary business expenses, and itemized wage statements.
Examples worth discussing with an employment attorney include:
- Time spent working that does not appear on your time records.
- Overtime hours that are unpaid or paid incorrectly.
- Meal breaks that are missed, interrupted, or recorded differently from what
occurred. - Rest breaks that employees cannot actually take.
- Required business expenses that employees pay themselves.
- Wage statements that contain missing or inaccurate information.
A workplace concern does not automatically establish a legal violation. The details matter: your duties, work schedule, pay arrangement, the employer’s policies, and how those policies operate in practice.
A written policy may say employees receive uninterrupted meal breaks. The more useful question is whether employees can actually take those breaks while meeting the employer’s expectations. At Bisnar Chase, we handle a wide range of cases, including wage and hour violations.
Who Can Bring a California PAGA Lawsuit?
Current and former employees may qualify to bring PAGA claims against private employers. Government employers are not subject to PAGA lawsuits.
For notices filed on or after June 19, 2024, the general rule is that the employee bringing the claim must have personally experienced each alleged Labor Code violation. A limited exception applies to certain employees represented by qualifying nonprofit legal services organizations. Older notices are governed by different standing rules.
In practical terms, hearing that another department has a payroll problem is not the same as personally experiencing that violation. An attorney should examine:
- Which violations affected you.
- When those violations occurred.
- Whether other employees experienced the same practices.
- Which rules apply to the timing of your notice and case.
- Whether related claims should be pursued alongside PAGA.
You do not have to remain employed to ask about your rights. Former employees may also qualify, but deadlines make prompt review important.
PAGA vs. a Class Action: What Is the Difference?
PAGA actions and employment class actions can address similar workplace practices, but they serve different legal purposes. An employment class action seeks relief for a group of workers and requires the court to determine whether the claims meet class-certification requirements.
A PAGA action seeks civil penalties on behalf of California and follows its own statutory requirements rather than the ordinary class-certification process. The state also explains that PAGA claims may be combined with claims seeking other remedies, including unpaid wages, damages, and statutory penalties
| Question | PAGA Action | Employment Class Action |
|---|---|---|
| What is its central purpose? | Enforce the Labor Code through civil penalties on behalf of the state. | Resolve qualifying claims for a group of employees. |
| Does it require ordinary class certification? | No; PAGA has separate statutory requirements. | Yes. |
| What can employees receive? | Their allocated share of recovered PAGA penalties. | Relief available for the claims pursued, such as unpaid wages. |
| Can both appear in one case? | Yes, when supported by the facts and applicable law. | Yes, when supported by the facts and applicable law. |
The right approach depends on the claim, not simply the number of employees involved. Our employment team handles both wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA matters.
How the 2024 PAGA Reforms Affect Employees
California changed PAGA in 2024. Those changes affect who may bring claims, how penalties are allocated, and when employers can reduce penalties or correct violations through a process called a cure. The applicable rules depend on the timing of the notice and, for some provisions, the lawsuit.
Employees Receive a Larger Share of Recovered Penalties Under the Newer Rules
For PAGA notices filed on or after June 19, 2024:
- 65% of recovered civil penalties goes to the Labor and Workforce Development
Agency. - 35% goes to the aggrieved employees.
For notices filed before that date, the allocation is generally 75% to the agency and 25% to
employees.
The employee share is distributed among affected employees. It is not a promise that the person bringing the case receives 35% of the entire settlement. A settlement may also include separate amounts for other claims and court-approved
expenses or fees.
Some Employers Can Reduce Their Penalty Exposure
Under the reforms, an employer’s efforts to comply with the law can significantly affect the penalties available. The law distinguishes between employers that take reasonable compliance steps before receiving a PAGA notice and those that take qualifying steps afterward. Exceptions apply.
That makes the employer’s actual conduct important. A policy manual, a payroll audit, and employees’ experiences may tell different parts of the story.
Employers Have Expanded Opportunities to Cure Violations
Certain violations may be corrected through administrative cure procedures or a court-supervised early evaluation process. A legally sufficient cure may prevent a PAGA lawsuit over the cured violation or affect the available penalties.
But correcting a violation can require more than changing a policy going forward. Depending on the violation, a cure may require payment of amounts owed, interest, applicable liquidated damages, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. Different requirements apply to certain wage-statement violations.
If your employer says it has “fixed the problem,” that statement deserves careful review. The question is whether the correction satisfies the legal requirements and fully addresses the violation.
How a PAGA Claim Works
1. Review the Workplace Practice and Available Records
The starting point is understanding what happened. Relevant materials may include pay statements, time records, work schedules, compensation agreements, break policies, expense records, and communications about how work should be performed. You do not need a complete file before requesting a consultation. Explain what you know and identify the records you already have.
2. Provide the Required Notice
Before filing a PAGA lawsuit, an employee must provide written notice to both the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the employer. The notice must identify the Labor Code provisions involved and provide sufficient supporting facts and legal theories. Simply listing code sections is not enough.
The agency notice is submitted through the state’s online filing system, and the written notice must also be sent to the employer by certified mail. Filing with the agency alone does not satisfy every service requirement. This is an important step, not a formality to rush through.
3. Complete the Applicable Administrative Process
What happens next depends on the allegations and the agency’s response. For many wage-and-hour notices, the Labor Commissioner has 65 days to notify the parties of its intent to investigate. If it does not provide that notice within the applicable period, the employee may be authorized to file suit. An investigation or cure proceeding can change the process and timing. Health-and-safety claims follow different procedures. There is no single waiting-period explanation that fits every PAGA claim.
4. Pursue the Case and Evaluate Any Proposed Resolution
If the claim proceeds, the parties may exchange records, address legal disputes, evaluate the alleged violations, and discuss settlement. PAGA settlements require independent court review and approval. The proposed settlement must also be submitted to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The resolution must be fair, reasonable, adequate, and consistent with PAGA’s enforcement purposes.
An employer and employee cannot simply label an agreement a PAGA settlement and bypass that review.
What Can Employees Recover Through PAGA?
PAGA provides civil penalties. The amount available depends on the violations, the applicable law, the employer’s compliance and cure efforts, and other circumstances. Separate employment claims may seek additional relief, including unpaid wages or other remedies supported by the facts.
For certain newer PAGA cases, a court may also order an employer to stop unlawful conduct. Be cautious about an online estimate that multiplies the number of workers by the number of pay periods and presents the result as a guaranteed recovery.
A meaningful evaluation must account for the actual violations, available defenses, statutory reductions, and litigation risks. The goal is to understand what the law supports, not to promise a number before reviewing the evidence.
Can I Bring a PAGA Claim if I Signed an Arbitration Agreement?
Possibly. Signing an arbitration agreement does not necessarily eliminate every part of a PAGA case. In Adolph v. Uber Technologies, Inc., the California Supreme Court held that an order requiring arbitration of an employee’s individual PAGA claims does not, by itself, strip that employee of standing to pursue nonindividual PAGA claims in court.
The outcome of the individual proceedings can still affect the remaining claims. The agreement’s language, the applicable law, and the facts of your case require individual review. Bring any arbitration agreement to your consultation, including agreements signed electronically during hiring or through an employee portal.
Do not assume a document called a “class-action waiver” answers every PAGA question.
Why Choose Bisnar Chase for a PAGA Matter?
A PAGA case requires more than identifying a problem on one paycheck. It requires connecting the employee’s experience to the employer’s practices, satisfying statutory procedures, and evaluating how the evidence supports the claims.
Ian Silvers is a partner at Bisnar Chase whose employment practice includes wage-and-hour class actions and PAGA litigation. His published background includes representing employees before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and resolving multiple seven-figure employment matters.
His listed results include:
- $4.88 million in a wage-and-hour class action and PAGA representative matter.
- $1.75 million in a PAGA representative matter.
- $1.2 million in a PAGA representative matter.
- $965,000 in a PAGA-only case.
Combined class-and-PAGA results are not amounts recovered solely as PAGA penalties. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and each matter depends on its own facts and law. Just as important, you should understand the decisions being made in your case.
Ian’s published comments emphasize helping employees to understand their rights and move forward after a workplace dispute. We don’t treat cases purely as a financial transaction.
What to Bring to Your Consultation
It can be helpful to gather as much information as possible to allow a legal expert to assess your case. Bring what you already have. Helpful materials may include:
- Recent and older pay statements showing the issue.
- Your own time records or notes about hours worked.
- Work schedules.
- Written meal and rest break policies.
- Emails or messages about working before clocking in or after clocking out.
- Receipts for required work expenses.
- Employment and arbitration agreements.
- A short timeline describing when the problem began and whether it changed.
Do not access restricted systems, take records you are not authorized to possess, or collect coworkers’ confidential information to build a case. Ask an attorney how to lawfully preserve relevant evidence.
If you do not have documents, you can still explain what happened. A consultation can help identify which records may matter.
California PAGA Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need Other Employees to Sign Up Before I Contact a Lawyer?
No. You can request a consultation based on your own experience. Whether you qualify to bring a representative PAGA claim—and which violations you can pursue—requires a separate legal analysis. Under the newer rules, employees generally must have personally experienced each violation they allege.
Can I Bring a Claim Against a Former Employer?
Potentially. PAGA allows qualifying current and former employees to bring claims. Leaving the job does not automatically eliminate your rights, but it does not remove filing deadlines either.
Will My Employer Learn About the Claim?
A PAGA claim is not an anonymous process. The required notice must be provided to the employer, and PAGA notices submitted to the agency are generally public records, subject to limited confidentiality exceptions. If you are still working for the employer and are worried about its response, raise that concern during your consultation.
What if My Employer Corrects My Paycheck After I Complain?
A correction may matter, but its effect depends on the violation and what was corrected. California’s cure procedures can require specific steps beyond a single payment or a prospective policy change. A qualifying cure can also affect whether a PAGA claim may proceed.
How Much Is My PAGA Case Worth?
There is no reliable answer without reviewing the facts. Potential penalties depend on the violations, affected employees and pay periods, applicable reductions, cure efforts, and other legal considerations. PAGA penalties must also be distinguished from unpaid wages and other claims.
Will I Receive All the Settlement Money?
No. PAGA penalties are divided between the state and aggrieved employees under the applicable allocation rules. Any combined settlement may also address other claims, fees, costs, and administration. The court must review and approve a PAGA settlement.
What Does It Cost to Discuss My Situation?
Bisnar Chase offers a free initial consultation. Before any representation begins, ask for an explanation of the proposed fee agreement, litigation costs, and how any fees or costs would affect a recovery.
Talk With a California PAGA Lawyer
You should not have to become an employment-law expert to understand whether you were paid correctly or given the breaks the law requires. If you believe an employer’s practices are affecting you and other workers, start by getting clear answers.
We can discuss what happened, what records may matter, and whether PAGA or another employment claim may fit your situation. Call Bisnar Chase at 800-561-4887 for a free consultation.
Ian Silvers
Ian Silvers is a partner and trial lawyer at Bisnar Chase, specializing in wage and hour class action cases for workers and other employee rights in California.
