Buchalter is pleased to announce that Shareholder, Robert S. Cooper’s article “How Calif. Employers Can Protect Against PAGA Claims” has been identified as one of the year’s ten most-read employment articles from Law360‘s guest authors.
Take a look back at the year’s 10 most-read employment articles from Law360 guest authors. To view article, click here. *subscription required
How Calif. Employers Can Protect Against PAGA Claims: “California’s Legislature has long prided itself on being at the forefront as the most employee-friendly state in the union, passing scores of new laws that affect employers every year. The sands are always shifting for California employers, which need to somehow stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving legal environment to survive to reap the benefits of doing business in the fifth largest economy in the world.
As we glide into 2019, employers are confronting a host of major developments in the Golden State’s employment landscape, including a radical alteration of the rules for classifying workers, enormous growth in actions under the Private Attorneys General Act, and an overall trend away from everything but a straight hourly method of compensating nonexempt employees, even in industries which traditionally relied upon piece-rate and commission-only models.
In the face of this onslaught, there is perhaps no more critical issue facing employers than the threat of collective actions known as PAGA claims. PAGA actions are a form of collective action in which one employee may sue his or her employer on behalf of the state of California and any “similarly aggrieved” employees in the workforce for violations of any of the 150 or so separate Labor Code statutes that govern California employment and wages. PAGA “deputizes” every current and former “aggrieved” employee to sue to recover civil penalties on behalf of the State.”
To read full article, click here.
