 A skilled litigator with extensive experience defending companies against employment claims, Daniel Chammas is an attorney with Ford & Harrison LLP in Los Angeles. In this work, he focuses on collective actions alleging “off-the-clock violations,” missed breaks, discrimination, and employee misclassification. Attorney Daniel Chammas also represents companies in wage and hour class actions and PAGA (Private Attorney General Act) actions in Los Angeles and beyond.
Enacted in 2004, the Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) focuses on enforcing California's labor laws. Thanks to PAGA, employees who are victims of labor violations by their present or past employers can file a lawsuit against the employer to hold the employer accountable for the labor violation and help the state penalize the employer for the offense. Examples of labor violations are wages paid below the minimum wage rate, employee misclassification, discrimination, and missed breaks. PAGA claims are solely qui tam claims, which means aggrieved workers are essentially exposing labor law violators to penalties, without expecting compensation in return. They may, however, sue for civil penalties based on the California Labor Code. Any aggrieved worker who seeks to pursue a PAGA claim must send a prior notification to their employee and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency online within one year after the most recent labor violation by the employer occurred. The notice must include a partial or full summary of labor violation events, provisions of the violated state's labor laws, and a complete or partial list of aggrieved entities. They must send the notice to the employer by certified mail. Sending the PAGA notice to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency allows the agency to investigate the claim within 65 days. The agency may intervene within 65 days of receiving the notice. If the agency does not intervene, the aggrieved employee may proceed to file a lawsuit against the employer. The employee has 60 days to file the lawsuit, during which they may include other applicable violations by the employer. Comments are closed.
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