RLC Collaborates with Cal. Retailers on PAGA Reform Recommendations

California's Private Attorneys General Act—better known as PAGA—has long been one of the most consequential employment laws affecting retailers in the state. The law allows individual employees to step into the shoes of the state and sue employers for Labor Code violations, collecting civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other workers, and the state. In theory, PAGA is meant to boost compliance with workplace protections. In practice, it has become a magnet for boilerplate, high-volume litigation that often does more to enrich plaintiffs' attorneys than to help workers or improve workplace conditions.

That's why the 2024 PAGA reform package was such a milestone. The reforms were designed to preserve meaningful worker protections while reining in the abuses that had turned PAGA into a cottage industry for a small number of law firms. Now, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) is writing the regulations that will determine how those reforms actually work on the ground. The stakes for retailers, which are California's largest private-sector employers, are enormous.

To that end, the Retail Litigation Center (RLC) worked in close coordination with the California Retailers Association (CRA) to submit formal comments on the LWDA's proposed regulations. The comments urge the Agency to follow through on the promise of the 2024 reforms by adopting rules that promote early resolution of disputes, strengthen notice requirements so employers can actually understand and respond to claims, increase accountability for claimants, and crack down on high-frequency and vexatious filers.

By partnering with CRA, the RLC was able to bring a unified retail perspective to this process and support regulations that maintain strong worker protections while curbing the well documented abuses that have distorted the system for far too long. 

READ COMMENTS HERE 

LWDA will hold a public hearing on the regulations via Zoom on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. PT. We will continue to stay on top of this issue for our retail members.