Employment law can be complex, but employees may have more legal options than they initially realize when it comes to dealing with employer violations of state labor codes. The Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) outlines the requirements for aggrieved workers seeking compensation on behalf of themselves, their co-workers, and the state. A San Diego PAGA attorney is the ideal asset for this type of case.
The team at Jimenez Loayza, APC, has extensive professional experience handling a wide range of employment law cases for clients throughout the San Diego area, including Private Attorneys General Act claims. We can provide the comprehensive legal support you need for this difficult type of case. Trust our team to assist you in meeting all the procedural requirements for this type of case and to guide you through all of the proceedings ahead of you.
What Does a PAGA Claim Involve?
The purpose of the PAGA is to provide an avenue for legal recourse when employers violate the state’s labor laws. Labor Code Sections 2698 through 2699.5 outlines the requirements for filing a PAGA claim in the state. All filings are recorded through a state-managed online portal. When a claimant submits a claim electronically, they must also serve a copy via certified mail to the employer.
Prior to the PAGA becoming law, employees were almost always locked into mandatory arbitration agreements with their employers, meaning if an employee experienced any type of wage and hour violation or other state labor code violation from their employer that resulted in damages, their only avenues of legal recourse would be one-sided arbitration or filing a claim through the state.
The state did not have the resources to pursue every claimed labor code violation, so the PAGA became law in order to allow aggrieved employees to pursue civil damages with the help of private legal advocates when they suffer damages due to labor code violations. It’s possible for an employee to use the PAGA to seek compensation for themselves, their co-workers, and for damages suffered by the state.
While many business owners have decried the PAGA as being one-sided and causing a landslide of litigation throughout the state, the reality is that PAGA can effectively even the legal playing field between an employer and an employee who would otherwise have no choice but to file a claim to the state and hope they had the time and resources to investigate or to engage in arbitration in which the employee is almost always at a significant disadvantage.
Filing a PAGA Claim in San Diego, CA
You may wonder whether filing a PAGA claim is your optimal avenue of legal recourse if you have experienced some type of legal dispute with your employer. A few of the most common reasons why employees file these claims include:
- Wage and hour violations. The state enforces some of the strictest wage and hour laws in the country, and violations can lead to tremendous losses for affected employees. If you and/or co-workers have experienced wage and hour violations, the PAGA enables you to pursue civil damages from your employer if the state does not respond to a report of a wage and hour violation within a reasonable timeframe.
- Meal and rest break violations. All employers in the state must provide their employees with rest and meal breaks based on their work schedules. Certain breaks are required after set amounts of work, and some of these breaks are paid while others are unpaid. If your employer has failed to honor these requirements or manually adjusted timecards to conceal rest and meal break violations, it could form grounds for a claim.
- Misclassification of employees. Some employers intentionally misclassify employees as independent contractors so they do not have to provide benefits and/or cover them with workers’ compensation insurance. Success with this type of claim could result in the plaintiff class and other workers being correctly classified and provide them with greater benefits and coverage than they previously had.
- Workplace safety violations, such as forcing employees to work in hazardous environments or handling hazardous materials without proper safety equipment. It is possible to hold an employer accountable for every violation of applicable safety regulations and for every employee affected by these violations.
PAGA claims must be filed through the state Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) website. Additionally, in order to have standing to file a PAGA claim, the plaintiff must have personally experienced the damaging effects of the alleged code violation.
If a violation is confirmed, the employer faces a penalty for each instance of the violation. For example, if multiple employees join together to file a PAGA claim pertaining to wage and hour violations, the employer can be penalized for each individual violation. Depending on the breadth and severity of an employer’s code violations, they can face tremendous financial liabilities from a successful PAGA claim.
Recent changes to the PAGA have allowed employers greater flexibility in addressing these claims. For example, there is now an early evaluation requirement that allows the employer to address the allegations in the plaintiff’s claim, provide arguments against them, and offer a cure for alleged violations. A mediator will facilitate this evaluation. Some employers may qualify to effectively preempt a PAGA claim by offering a cure to the violations listed in the initial notice.
Ultimately, these recent changes have been implemented in order to ensure the PAGA can accomplish its intended goal: to reduce the administrative strain on state resources incurred by investigating every state Labor Code violation while providing an effective avenue of legal recourse to aggrieved employees. Your San Diego PAGA attorney can help you understand this unique law in clearer detail as it pertains to your situation.
Potential Benefits of a PAGA Claim in San Diego
Prior to the implementation of the PAGA, employees who were negatively affected by state Labor Code violations had minimal avenues for legal recourse, primarily relying on state agencies to process their claims, investigate them, and then determine compensation for any damages. The PAGA effectively enables a claimant to pursue civil damages for code violations with the help of their attorney.
It’s possible for a PAGA claimant to seek compensation for rest and meal break violations, wage and hour violations, unreimbursed business expenses, unpaid commissions, and discriminatory pay practices. The PAGA also enables claimants to recover their attorneys’ fees from their employers, minimizing the cost of pursuing these claims. Claimants should remember they are collecting penalties for violations, not complete reimbursement of their alleged losses.
It is important to remember that if you intend to file a PAGA claim in the state, you must first file a formal claim with the appropriate state agency. If they have not replied with their findings within a reasonable time, a San Diego PAGA attorney can then assist you in pursuing the PAGA claim filing process.
It is also important to remember that while it is possible to recover compensation with a successful PAGA claim, it is not the main intention behind this law. The PAGA enables private workers to act as attorneys general for the purposes of enforcing state labor laws. It also provides an opportunity for smaller employers who have violated these laws to course-correct, and PAGA claims also generate revenue for the state.
What to Expect From Your San Diego PAGA Attorney
Working with a seasoned San Diego PAGA attorney is the ideal way to increase your chance of success with the claim. The claim filing process begins with the initial notice to the LWDA. Your attorney can help you cite the specific provisions of the state Labor Code that your employer has violated. They can also help you gather any documentation needed to prove that you and other members of the class filing the claim have appropriate standing.
The PAGA claim filing process will require electronic filing through the LWDA website, as well as sending certified notices to the employer with each new filing. Your attorney can help you track all correspondence related to your claim, assist you in preparing for any early evaluation processes between you and your employer, and help you maximize any recovery you secure from a successful PAGA suit.
The team at Jimenez Loayza, APC, has years of professional experience handling a wide range of employment law cases, including many PAGA claims on behalf of clients in San Diego and surrounding areas. When the PAGA offers a valuable opportunity to our clients, we can help them take full advantage of it and ensure they fully understand this unique legal mechanism and the rules for filing such a claim.
You have a time limit for filing a PAGA claim in San Diego, and having the right attorney on your side will help to ensure you meet this deadline while also increasing your chances of success with the claim. Jimenez Loayza, APC, has the resources, skills, and experience necessary to help you navigate your case with confidence. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with a San Diego PAGA attorney and learn how we can assist you with your claim.