 Serving Los Angeles clients as a labor and employment defense attorney, Daniel Chammas delivers legal results across a range of industries, with a focus on employment law. Daniel Chammas maintains a close watch on legal developments, including the two-decade-long battle over the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
Signed by Governor Gray Davis in 2003 as one of his last acts in office after being recalled near the start of a second term, Senate Bill 796 provides workers with a ready means of filing collective action suits against employers for claims related to violations of the state laws that dictate working conditions. This provided plaintiff attorneys and unions with a stronger hand in pursuing cases outside the California Labor Commissioner’s Office. Since PAGA was instituted, unions and some trial attorneys have worked to expand the reach of the law, while business groups have remained steadfastly opposed. In 2018, the Supreme Court of California significantly expanded the potential impact of PAGA through restrictions on California employers’ ability to classify workers as independent contractors (who do not need to abide by state labor laws). This was codified in 2019 through Assembly Bill 5, which turned numerous contractors into payroll employees. In response, Uber and Lyft convinced state voters to make them exempt from the new classification rules. PAGA’s potential scope was also expanded by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022, with one law providing workers with the right of refusal to work, should conditions be unsafe, and another requiring that employers provide disclosure of wage scales to potential and current employees. In response to these expansions of PAGA, Californians for Fair Play and Accountability, a group of businesses and employers, has collected signatures that will place a measure that would repeal PAGA completely (while expanding state labor law enforcement) on the 2024 ballot. Comments are closed.
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