California PAGA Lawyer

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When One Employee Can Recover Penalties for All of Them

California’s Private Attorneys General Act gives any employee who suffered a Labor Code violation the right to step into the shoes of the state and recover civil penalties on behalf of every “aggrieved” employee subject to the same violations. The penalties are real money — typically $100 per employee per pay period for the initial violation and $200 per employee per pay period for subsequent violations, with the recovery split 75 percent to the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and 25 percent to the employee group. PAGA cases are not class actions in the traditional sense, but the recovery can be larger than many class actions because the per-pay-period penalty structure compounds quickly.

A California PAGA lawyer is the person who files the LWDA notice, builds the representative case, and recovers the penalties. KBK Lawyers represents California employees as PAGA plaintiffs across wage and hour, meal and rest break, and other Labor Code violations.

How PAGA Works

A PAGA case has its own procedure:

  • The employee provides a written notice to the LWDA and the employer describing the violations
  • The LWDA has 65 days to investigate or to authorize the employee to proceed
  • If the LWDA does not act, the employee files in court as a representative plaintiff
  • The case proceeds with discovery, motion practice, and either trial or settlement
  • Any settlement requires court approval and LWDA notice
  • The recovery is split 75-25 between the LWDA and the aggrieved employees

A California PAGA lawyer manages each step on the employee side, including the strict 65-day timing and the requirement that the notice describe the violations with sufficient specificity.

The PAGA Reform Landscape

California has reformed PAGA over the years, including 2024 amendments that changed exhaustion requirements, penalty structures, and the role of cure procedures. A California PAGA lawyer who tracks the current state of the statute can evaluate cases against the framework that applies today, not the older versions.

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Why KBK Lawyers

Brian Kabateck has decades of California plaintiffs’ experience, including PAGA representative actions and wage-and-hour class actions. He is a past President of Consumer Attorneys of California and a past President of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.
A California PAGA lawyer at our firm pleads PAGA alongside individual and class allegations where appropriate, maximizing the available recovery.

What You Can Recover

  • 25 percent of PAGA civil penalties on behalf of the aggrieved employee group
  • Individual recovery on the underlying Labor Code violations (parallel to PAGA)
  • Attorney’s fees and costs paid by the employer
  • Statutory penalties under Labor Code sections 226 (wage statements), 203 (waiting time), and others
  • Injunctive relief requiring the employer to comply going forward

Deadlines

PAGA claims require a written LWDA notice within one year of the last violation. After the LWDA timeline runs (65 days), the lawsuit must be filed within one year of the notice. A California PAGA lawyer at our firm tracks every deadline from intake.

Frequently Asked Questions

California has narrowed mandatory arbitration in the PAGA context, and the representative portion of PAGA cases is generally not subject to arbitration. The individual portion may be arbitrable. A California PAGA lawyer can review your arbitration agreement.

Almost never. The LWDA rarely investigates or takes over PAGA cases; in most cases the agency simply allows the 65-day period to expire and lets the private plaintiff proceed.

PAGA representatives may receive a service award similar to a class action service award, subject to court approval and consistent with PAGA’s framework.