Opinion
Abuse of PAGA leads to Lawsuit

By TOM MANZO | President of the California Business & Industrial Alliance
Dec. 19, 2018
The Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) was signed into law in 2003 by Gray Davis and championed by Senator Joe Dunn. Davis spent 1,778 days as governor and signed 5,132 bills into law and that is an average of 2.89 bills a day. PAGA was approved by Governor Gray Davis on October 12, 2003, just five days after the California electorate voted to recall him from office.
If you are not familiar with PAGA, this law deputizes each and every California employee (and his or her private contingency-fee attorneys) to sue their employers on behalf of the State. The California Labor Laws are composed of myriad rules, standards, and obligations, which touch nearly every aspect of the employment relationship. Many of the California Labor Laws are unclear, cumbersome, counter intuitive and impossible to follow. It is no wonder as the California Labor Law Digest published by the Chamber is over 1,100 pages.
If you are take your lunch later than 5 hours, even a second, it is a violation, or a gift card for the holidays is not put into the overtime rate is a violation. Do you have proper commission agreements? Third break after 10 hours or waived lunch? The list of potential traps just keeps going and it is impossible to follow all of these regulations and many are not appropriate for some industries. The Labor Laws cannot be a one size fits all and I think the only ones who understand these complex laws are the trial attorneys suing businesses daily.
Since this law was enacted over 35,000 PAGA notices have been sent out by the state and most turn into class action lawsuits costing employers millions. PAGA is used by the trial lawyers to start the process and many times settlement amounts going to the state are negotiated in mediation. As a matter of fact what is supposed to go to the aggrieved employees is also negotiated in mediation and what are not negotiable are the trial attorney’s fees thanks to the state.
An employee alleges (without any proof) that for the past year, he has worked 2 minutes of “of-the-c1ock” overtime each pay period attending to miscellaneous tasks related to opening or closing Employer’s place of business. Under the Starbucks decision, discussed supra, the employee has a cognizable claim of failure to pay minimum wages and overtime. Employer has 30 employees and weekly pay periods. Employee’s hourly rate of pay is $ 11.00 per hour, which means the approximate amount of unpaid minimum wages is: $19.07 (2 minutes x 52 pay periods: 104 minutes; 104 minutes / 60 minutes: 1.73 hours; 1.73 hours x $11.00: $19.07), and the approximate amount of unpaid overtime wages are: $9.54 ($19.07 x. 0.5: $ 9.54). So the total approximate amount of wages Employer failed to pay Employee, unknowingly, is $28.61.
Through PAGA, this employee has authority to seek a maximum of $69,508.61 civil penalties and personal damages for the alleged failure of Employer to pay Employee: $28.61, which are 2,430 times the alleged actual damages. With 30 employees your exposure is over 2 million dollars and this does not include employees no longer working for you. Those employees are owed 30 days’ pay and waiting time penalties.
What happens next is where things really go wrong as this employee will never see $ 69,000. All of that is done in negotiations behind closed doors. That Starbucks employee received a check for less than $ 700 and the rest goes to the trial lawyer and the state.
Our organization The California Business & Industrial Alliance filed suit against the State of California on November 28th of this year challenging its constitutionality. The complaint is 54 pages spelling out how this law began and where we are at today. It is time business owners, community leaders, legislators, all learned more about how badly this law is abused and helped facilitate real reform. Employers and employees both lose when it comes to PAGA.
The views expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Inland Empire Business Journal.

Career & Workplace
California’s Population Decline Continues to Hammer Labor Supply

State’s Workforce Contracts Again In Latest Numbers; Unemployment Rate Ticks Up
California’s labor market grew modestly in the latest numbers. Total nonfarm employment in the state expanded by 8,700 positions in September, according to an analysis released today by Beacon Economics. August’s gains were also revised down to 8,900, a 19,000 decrease from the preliminary estimate of 27,900.
As of September 2023, California has recovered all of the jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 (the beginning of the pandemic), and there are now 436,400 more people employed in the state compared to pre-pandemic February 2020. Since that time, total nonfarm employment in California has grown 2.5% compared to a 3.0% increase nationally. On an annual basis, California increased payrolls by 1.7% from September 2022 to September 2023, trailing the 2.1% increase at the national level over the same period.
California’s unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.7% in the latest numbers, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. The state’s unemployment rate remains elevated relative to the 3.8% rate in the United States overall. Moreover, California continues to struggle with its labor supply, which fell by 17,700 in September, a decrease of 0.1% on a month-over-month basis. Since February 2020, the state’s labor force has contracted by 216,300 workers, a 1.1% decline.
“Census figures released this week reveal the extent to which households continue to leave California,” said Taner Osman, Research Manager at Beacon Economics. “The state’s population has fallen by half a million people over the past three years and this is filtering through to the economy, where the labor force has shrunk and employers are struggling to find workers.”
Industry Profile
- At the industry level, job gains were mixed in the latest numbers. The Health Care sector led the way with payrolls expanding by 18,200, an increase of 0.7% on a month-over-month basis. With these gains, Health Care payrolls are now 9.6% above their pre-pandemic peak.
- Leisure and Hospitality was the next best-performing sector, adding 11,300 jobs, a month-over-month increase of 0.5%. With these gains Leisure and Hospitality payrolls are now 0.4%, or 8,500 jobs, above their pre-pandemic peak.
- Other sectors posting strong gains during the month were Retail Trade (3,100 or 0.2%), Construction (2,200 or 0.2%), Real Estate (600 or 0.2%), and Management (500 or 0.2%).
- Payrolls decreased in a handful of sectors in September. Information experienced the largest declines, with payrolls falling by 7,300, a contraction of 1.3% on a month-over-month basis. However, this decline was driven by the strikes in the Motion Picture and Sound Recording sub-sector, which has shed 30,800 positions over the last year, a 18.2% decline.
- Other sectors posting declines during the month were Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (-5,900 or -0.4%), Administrative Support (-5,500 or -0.5%), Manufacturing (-4,600 or -0.3%), Finance and Insurance (-2,200 or -0.4%), Other Services (-1,100 or -0.2%), and Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities (-500 or -0.1%).
Regional Profile
- Regionally, job gains were led by Southern California in September. Los Angeles (MD) experienced the largest increase, with payrolls growing by 8,700 (0.2%) during the month. The Inland Empire (5,900 or 0.4%), Orange County (5,400 or 0.3%), San Diego (1,400 or 0.1%), and Ventura (800 or 0.3%) also enjoyed job gains. Over the past year, Orange County (2.1%) has seen the fastest job growth in the region, followed by Los Angeles (MD) (2.0%), El Centro (1.8%), Ventura (1.7%), San Diego (1.5%), and the Inland Empire (0.7%).
- In the San Francisco Bay Area, growth was mixed. San Rafael (MD) (1,000 or 0.9%) and Santa Rosa (1,00 or 0.5%) enjoyed the largest increase during the month. Vallejo (600 or 0.4%) also saw payrolls expand. On the other hand, San Francisco (MD) (-4,100 or -0.3%), San Jose (-1,800 or -0.2%), the East Bay (-1,600 or -0.1%), and Napa (-300 or -0.4%) all experienced payroll declines during the month. Over the past 12 months, Santa Rosa (3.4%) has had the fastest job growth in the region, followed by San Rafael (MD) (3.0%), the East Bay (2.0%), Vallejo (1.9%), San Francisco (MD) (1.4%), San Jose (1.3%), and Napa (0.5%).
- In the Central Valley, Sacramento experienced the largest monthly job gains with payrolls expanding by 2,200 (0.2%) positions in September. Payrolls in Bakersfield (700 or 0.2%), Modesto (700 or 0.4%), Redding (500 or 0.7%), Visalia (400 or 0.3%), Stockton (200 or 0.1%), and Chico (100 or 0.1%) also jumped during the month. On the other hand, Madera (-300 or -0.7%) and Merced (-100 or -0.1%) had payrolls decline. Over the past year, Yuba (2.6%) has enjoyed the fastest growth, followed by Hanford (2.4%), Fresno (2.3%), Sacramento (2.1%), Visalia (1.4%), Chico (1.3%), Bakersfield (1.0%), Madera (0.7%), Stockton (0.7%), Modesto (0.2%), Redding (0.0%), and Merced (-3.6%).
- On California’s Central Coast, Santa Barbara (400 or 0.2%) added the largest number of jobs in September. Salinas (300 or 0.2%) and Santa Cruz (100 or 0.1%) also saw payrolls increase during the month. On the other hand, payrolls in San Luis Obispo declined (-300 or -0.2%). From September 2022 to September 2023, Salinas (4.2%) added jobs at the fastest rate, followed by San Luis Obispo (3.1%), Santa Barbara (2.9%), and Santa Cruz (1.7%).
Bizz Buzz
Colton Resident Receives Free College Tuition and Books Through Walmart’s Education Program

By Saul Martinez, Contributing Writer for IEBJ
#bizzbuzz
This year marks the five-year anniversary of Walmart’s Live Better U (LBU) education program. Over the past five years, the company has saved associates across the country nearly half a billion in education costs, reflecting the company’s commitment to creating a path for everyone to learn and grow. In California, we’ve seen 5,620 Walmart and Sam’s Club associates participate in Live Better U over the past five years.
One such success story is Robert Gay, who lives in Colton, CA, and earned his college degree – fully paid for by Walmart. Robert was stuck in a stagnant position at his previous company, hindered by the absence of a degree that prevented him from advancing further. However, upon discovering the Live Better U benefits offered by Walmart, he decided to take a leap of faith and join their team with the intention of completing his degree. After successfully graduating with a bachelor’s degree in October 2020, he now takes immense pride in his accomplishment of accepting a promotion to associate general manager. Throughout his journey, Robert received overwhelming support from his local team, who not only empathized with his workload challenges but also aided when needed.
Most individuals typically encounter Walmart through its retail outlets. The Inland Empire Business Journal had the opportunity to explore a consolidation center of Walmart situated in Colton, California. Our visit left us deeply impressed by the remarkable cleanliness and impeccable condition of the facility, almost reminiscent of a high-end showroom.
While on the tour, we observed the diligent measures taken by the leadership to maintain employee motivation and awareness regarding the daily, weekly, and monthly performance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the facility. These KPIs were prominently displayed on digital monitors throughout the premises. The Colton leadership created a mascot and call their team the Colton Eagles.
We found ourselves deeply impressed by this aspect of Walmart, which is often hidden from public view. Walmart unquestionably stands out as a company that not only offers excellent career opportunities but also boasts a remarkable 100% tuition reimbursement program. If you are seeking a career in the Inland Empire, this proves to be an exceptional workplace choice.
Whether someone is chasing their first job or the opportunity that will define their career, Walmart is committed to creating pathways of opportunity for everyone.
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