California Employment News: Taking Advantage of the PAGA Reform – How Employers Can Lower Their Risk of PAGA Liability
#WorkforceWednesday®: PAGA in California, NLRB Authority, New Employment Laws in 2025 - Employment Law This Week®
California Employment News - Navigating the New PAGA Reforms: What Employers Need to Know
California Employment News - Navigating the New PAGA Reforms: What Employers Need to Know (Podcast)
California Governor’s PAGA Deal: What Employers Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
#WorkforceWednesday: California’s Non-Compete Notice Deadline Approaches, California Workplace Violence Regulations, Estrada Decision Keeps Door Open for PAGA Challenges - Employment Law This Week®
Podcast: California Employment News - The Basics of Wage Statement Compliance (Part 1)
California Employment News: The Basics of Wage Statement Compliance (Part 1)
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS Rules on PAGA, Fifth Circuit Rules on COVID-19 Under WARN, Illinois Expands Bereavement Leave - Employment Law This Week®
California Employment News: US Supreme Court “Viking River” Decision Brings PAGA Relief for CA Employers
California Employment News: PAGA - The Four-Letter Word of Employment Law
#WorkforceWednesday: EEOC COVID-19 Charges Surge, NYC’s Pay Transparency Law, SCOTUS Considers PAGA - Employment Law This Week®
Case in Point -- Recent Updates in California Employment Law
CRST Expedited, Inc. v. Superior Court, 2025 WL 1874891 (Cal. Ct. App. 2025) - Espiridion Sanchez filed this PAGA action against his former employer on behalf of himself and other allegedly “aggrieved employees.”...more
While we are waiting for the CA Supreme Court in Leeper v. Shipt to address whether “headless” PAGA claims (i.e., where PAGA representative plaintiffs disavow the “individual” portion of a PAGA claim) are a permissible end...more
The Fifth District Court of Appeal held that under pre-reform PAGA, headless PAGA actions in which plaintiffs seek civil penalties only on behalf of other employees and not for violations they personally experienced are...more
Since our last coverage of “headless PAGA lawsuits”—i.e., lawsuits in which a plaintiff disavows his individual PAGA claim and opts to pursue the claim only on behalf of others—significant developments have further...more
On May 14, 2025, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision in Rose v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., addressing whether the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) can be held liable for an employer’s...more
The Second District Court of Appeal held that, under the pre-reform PAGA statute, an individual employee need not have been employed or experienced a Labor Code violation during the one-year PAGA limitations period to have...more
We invite you to review our newly-posted, May 2025 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: Apple...more
The First District held that a prevailing defendant in a PAGA action may not recover litigation costs from the California Labor Workforce Development Agency when the LWDA did not participate in the litigation....more
The California Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision in Reyes v. Hi-Grade Materials Co. continues the trend toward limiting plaintiffs’ abuse and improper weaponization of the California Private Attorneys General Act...more
The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) grants private individuals the authority to sue on behalf of the state of California for employer violations of the California Labor Code. The primary purpose of PAGA is not to...more
Last week, in Chavez v. Hi-Grade Materials Co., the California Court of Appeal took up a novel jurisdictional question: Can a putative class action plaintiff unilaterally ring the death knell for the entire class and create...more
A California Court of Appeal recently held that an employee bringing a claim under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) must be able to allege that he personally suffered a Labor Code violation within the applicable...more
In a decision with important implications for many pending Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) lawsuits, a California Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal of a representative PAGA action as untimely because the plaintiff did...more
PAGA claims brought under pre-reform PAGA must be brought within one year of a Labor Code violation experienced by the plaintiff and because a PAGA claim necessarily has both an individual and a non-individual component,...more
As we reported here, a split in authority has developed in the California Court of Appeal regarding what to do when an employer moves to compel arbitration of a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) that is “headless”—that is,...more
Employers in California more than likely have heard of the Private Attorneys General Act, commonly referred to as PAGA. However, understanding what it is, how it functions, and how it can affect them can be challenging....more
California often finds itself at the forefront of labor and employment law, with changes affecting employers each year. This year is no different. In 2025, employers can expect a variety of impactful changes to the...more
As we have reported time and again, California courts have applied extra scrutiny to employee arbitration agreements in recent years, and have not hesitated to deny arbitration where there is a reasonable basis for doing so. ...more
Last year, we reported on the reforms to the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) that Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law on July 1, 2024. The reform legislation was pushed through to avoid a ballot vote on a measure...more
In this episode of California Employment News, Meagan Bainbridge and Ryan Abernethy break down the latest PAGA reforms and what employers need to know to reduce penalties and stay compliant. From new cure opportunities to...more
On February 26, 2025, in Parra Rodriguez v. Packers Sanitation, Inc., the California Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District) issued the latest published decision addressing the practice of filing so-called “headless”...more
The recent changes to California’s wage and hour laws have significant implications for employers operating within the state. While the reforms are aimed at providing clearer guidelines for employers, there are still complex...more
Two recent Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) cases underscore the importance of effectively using procedural motions in defending such cases. 1. Rodriguez v. Packers Sanitation Services LTD., LLC...more
A recent decision from the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District has created a split on whether employees can bring “headless” Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims. “Headless” PAGA refers to the...more
A California court of appeal recently upheld a trial court’s ruling that rejected a sanitation company’s effort to compel arbitration of individual claims under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), where the...more