When was PAGA enacted?

The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq., was enacted to allow private parties to sue for the civil penalties previously only recoverable by a state agency. PAGA has created a type of qui tam action, authorizing a private party to bring an action to recover a penalty on behalf of the government and receive part of the recovery as compensation. When an employee brings a representative action under PAGA, he or she does so as the proxy or agent of the state’s labor law enforcement agencies, not other employees. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of deputizing citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the California Labor Code. The relief provided by the statute is designed to benefit the general public, not the party bringing the action. Since PAGA is fundamentally a law enforcement action, a plaintiff must first allow the appropriate state authorities to investigate the alleged Labor Code violations, by providing the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency with written notice of the violations. Lab. Code, § 2699, subd. (a). Only if the agency elects not to pursue the violations may an employee file a PAGA action. Lab. Code, § 2699.3, subd. (a)(2).


The Legislature enacted the PAGA in 2003 after deciding that lagging labor law enforcement resources made additional private enforcement necessary “‘to achieve maximum compliance with state labor laws.’” (Iskanian, supra, 59 Cal.4th at p. 379, quoting Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, 980 [95 Cal. Rptr. 3d 588, 209 P.3d 923] (Arias).) HN1 The PAGA therefore [*185] empowers employees to sue on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved employees to recover civil penalties previously recoverable only by the Labor Commissioner—including those in section 558. (See § 2699, subd. (a); Iskanian, at p. 381.) The PAGA also creates new civil penalties, equally enforceable by aggrieved employees, for most other Labor Code violations that previously did not carry such penalties. (§ 2699, subds. (f), (g)(1); Iskanian, at pp. 379–380.) ZB, N.A. v. Superior Court, 8 Cal. 5th 175.

The Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq., empowers employees to sue on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved employees to recover civil penalties previously recoverable only by the California Labor Commissioner — including those in Lab. Code, § 558. Lab. Code, § 2699, subd. (a). The PAGA also has created civil penalties, equally enforceable by aggrieved employees, for most other California Labor Code violations that previously did not carry such penalties. § 2699, subds. (f), (g)(1).


The Legislature’s purpose in enacting the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), Lab. Code, § 2968 et seq., was to augment the limited enforcement capability of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency by empowering employees to enforce the California Labor Code as representatives of the agency. Thus, an agreement by employees to waive their right to bring a PAGA action serves to disable one of the primary mechanisms for enforcing the Labor Code. Because such an agreement has as its object, indirectly, to exempt the employer from responsibility for its own violation of law, it is against public policy and may not be enforced. Civ. Code, § 1668. Such an agreement also violates the injunction in Civ. Code, § 3513, that a law established for a public reason cannot be contravened by a private agreement. The PAGA was clearly established for a public reason, and agreements requiring the waiver of PAGA rights would harm the state’s interests in enforcing the Labor Code and in receiving the proceeds of civil penalties used to deter violations. Of course, employees are free to choose whether or not to bring PAGA actions when they are aware of Labor Code violations. But it is contrary to public policy for an employment agreement to eliminate this choice altogether by requiring employees to waive the right to bring a PAGA action before any dispute arises. Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC, 59 Cal. 4th 348.


The Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA), Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq., is a type of qui tam statute that allows an aggrieved employee to recover civil penalties on behalf of the state. The purpose of PAGA is not to recover damages or restitution, but to create a means of deputizing citizens as private attorneys general to enforce the Labor Code. The relief is in large part for the benefit of the general public rather than the party bringing the action. PAGA is limited to the recovery of civil penalties. Accordingly, courts have drawn a distinction between the civil penalties available under PAGA and statutory penalties recoverable by individual plaintiffs before PAGA was enacted.

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