I magine that a winery tasting room employee—let’s call him Tim—missed a few lunch breaks because he was the only server on duty during busy times of day. His employer didn’t seem to notice he was working through breaks, so Tim spoke up, asking his boss to remedy the situation. But the complaints were brushed aside, and the problem was not resolved—so Tim reached out to an attorney. The attorney offered to assist Tim in filing a notice with the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), going on record that his employer was violating the state labor code regarding breaks. The notice gave the state labor agency the go-ahead to investigate the alleged violations, likely leading to the winery facing a costly settlement agreement. Since its passage by the state legislature in 2004, the (PAGA) has seen labor code violation claims and resulting settlements (or litigation) grow exponentially—a potential boon for plaintiffs’ labor attorneys looking for easy settlement dollars and a potential nightmare for businesses unaware of the minefield of labor violations they need to navigate. “(PAGA) causes an enormous amount of angst for employers, because sometimes they have no idea they are in violation of the labor code,” explains Bill Vick. Designed for employees to sue Vick’s career background is in financial services, but he is also a member of North Bay Trusted Business Advice (NBTBA), a group made up of attorneys—including the two attorneys interviewed for this article—accountants, insurance professionals and others. Vick is also a chairperson in Sonoma County for Vistage, a worldwide CEO peer group led by former business leaders to grow revenue, profitability and promote professional and personal development. The professionals in the North Bay Trusted Business Advice group meet regularly to help simplify various challenges local CEOs face when managing their businesses. PAGA is one of those challenges many CEOs face head-on to keep their businesses compliant and to avoid litigation. The group even created a questionnaire for employers to see if they are in compliance with the California Labor Code [see sidebar]. PAGA was signed into law more than 20 years ago and underwent reforms, for better or worse, last year. It was first created, according to attorney Kari Brown, to help the California Attorney General’s office in the prosecution of labor code claims. “The AG’s office has the responsibility of enforcing these violations, but it was unable to handle the volume of claims,” says Brown, who specializes in employment law for Spaulding McCullough & Tansil in Santa Rosa. “So the legislature created the law to essentially deputize employees to stand in the shoes of the AG and sue.” Deterring unlawful conduct The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) was doing the investigations of labor code
complaints, but it was underfunded. “That’s why PAGA was created,” says attorney Samantha Pungprakeati, who focuses on employment law for North Bay-based Carle Mackie Power & Ross. “LWDA is still free to do their
own audits and collect penalties,
but law firms filing on their behalf send the LWDA 75% of whatever judgment is adjudicated.”
Bill Vick
“Deep down in the labor code were civil penalties that were also available if the state came to the employer to investigate and audit to see if they were following the law, but those penalties were not being collected. Through PAGA an employee can get 25% of the settlement as a finder’s fee [from a PAGA lawsuit] and have to turn the remaining 75% over to the state.” According to the state labor agency, civil penalties assessed and collected under PAGA “help deter unlawful conduct and encourage compliance with labor protections.” The labor agency gives the Labor Commissioner’s Office responsibility over the investigation of PAGA notices alleging wage and hour violations, and Cal/OSHA investigates PAGA notices that raise health and safety violations.” (While government employers are not subject to PAGA lawsuits for violations of the labor code, private employers are.) In October 2024, the Labor & Workforce Development Agency created a separate PAGA Unit to administer the pre-litigation early resolution “cure” procedures enacted by the PAGA reforms—a chance for the company to remedy or
Samantha Pungprakearti
August 2025
NorthBaybiz 23
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