Author: Jeff Russell

In July 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed significant reforms to the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) through Assembly Bill 2288 (AB 2288) and Senate Bill 92 (SB 92) (Labor Code § 2699 et seq.), which took effect immediately upon signing on July 1, 2024, as urgency statutes. The reforms, however, generally apply to civil… Continue reading California’s 2024 PAGA Reforms: What Employers Need to Know

What’s the biggest legal risk facing your business right now? Is it a harassment claim? A downturn in the economy? Another public health disruption? While those risks are real, there’s another threat quietly costing California employers millions every year: Wage and hour class and PAGA lawsuits. COVID-19 and economic uncertainty may have made this issue… Continue reading The Top 10 Wage and Hour Violations in California (2025 Update)

This is the fifth part of our five-part series on Why You Should Treat Wage and Hour Compliance Like Safety in California.  In Part 1, we demonstrated how wage and hour lawsuits present California employers’ most significant legal threat due to a lack of administrative or preventative infrastructure and enormous costs. In Part 2, we covered how high… Continue reading How to Treat Wage and Hour Compliance Like Health and Safety, Reduce Your Risk, and Prevent Lawsuits (Part 5 of 5)

This is the fourth part of our five-part series on Why You Should Treat Wage and Hour Compliance Like Safety in California. In Part 1 of this series, we compared health and safety practices with wage and hour compliance, demonstrating how wage and hour lawsuits threaten California employers more due to a lack of administrative or preventative infrastructure.… Continue reading Bounty Hunter Lawyers on the Prowl (Part 4 of 5)

California’s aggressive wage and hour penalty and remedy laws drive up the potential exposure in wage and hour lawsuits far higher than any safety violation ever will. This is because of the California wage and hour penalty multiplier. California laws are structured to penalize employers by assessing a penalty for each potential wage and hour violation and sometimes stacking penalties upon penalties for the same type of violation for a period that can go back as far as four years.

In the dynamic landscape of California workplaces, the commitment to regulatory compliance is paramount. Employers must navigate many challenges to ensure a harmonious and lawful working environment. While safety and OSHA compliance have traditionally been at the forefront of organizational priorities, especially for industries like manufacturing and construction, a closer inspection reveals a more nuanced picture, where wage and hour violations have become a more significant threat to employers.

You have probably known for a long time that California businesses must comply with the state’s workplace health and safety laws. Wage and hour lawsuits, however, are a far greater legal and financial threat to employers in California than safety issues. This is the first article in a five-part series in which we share with you exactly why employers should treat wage and hour compliance like safety in California.

What do you think the biggest risk to your business is currently in California? Is it a sexual harassment case? Is it the economy? Is it the potential return of COVID-19? For some businesses it might be, but for most other businesses there is a much bigger calamity on the horizon. The threat is a wage and hour lawsuit against your business. Here are the Top 10 Wage and Hour Violations in California.

If you own a business in California, you likely have multiple insurance policies to help protect your business. These insurance policies probably give you a sense of security, knowing that if the unexpected happens, you’re protected. But, statistically speaking, the biggest legal risk to a California business is not a fire, theft, or even a lawsuit for wrongful termination or discrimination. It’s a wage and hour class action and/or PAGA action.

What are wage and hour lawsuits and why does everyone seem to dread them so much? The term “wage and hour” refers to the laws and rules related to the wages and working hours of employees. These laws often change and are updated, setting the stage for the many different ghoulish and ghastly wage and hour lawsuits. Here are the ten most common forms of wage and hour lawsuits in order of the least scary to the most frightening.