PAGA allows employees to assist the state in enforcing labor laws by suing their employers on behalf of the state for violations of the Labor Code to recover civil penalties. Civil penalties assessed and collected under PAGA help deter unlawful conduct and encourage compliance with labor protections. These civil penalties are separate from and additional to other remedies, including damages, available for labor law violations through a separate non-PAGA lawsuit. Employees may bring other types of claims instead of, or in addition to, a PAGA claim, such as filing a lawsuit in court to recover unpaid wages, statutory damages, and statutory penalties for certain Labor Code violations.
PAGA Filings
The California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) inspired more representative lawsuits than any other statute in America over the past year. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, plaintiffs filed more than 9,464 PAGA notices in 2024, a nearly 22% increase over 2023, and a whopping 85,936% increase over the 11 PAGA notices filed in 2006.
Learn more about the local impact of PAGA by visiting our PAGA impact map. To better understand the magnitude of PAGA abuse, explore our PAGA lawsuit data.
