[Source: KGET News Bakersfield] A group of business associations around the state is rallying behind the reform of a nearly two decade old state law called the California Private Attorney General Act.
The law — often called PAGA — allows employees to file civil lawsuits against their employers over labor code violations.
Critics say it leads to frivolous lawsuits against businesses and often ends in employers being forced into paying expensive settlements.
The California Chamber of Commerce also argues most of the money from these lawsuits goes to attorneys, while workers don’t see much of the cash themselves.
Now, the effort to get a reform initiative — called The California Fair Pay and Employer Accountability Act — on the ballot this November is gaining steam.
President of the California Chamber of Commerce Jennifer Barrera spoke to 17 News about the changes the chamber hopes to enact with the new initiative.
“We are basically taking trial attorneys out of the equation and we’re giving the money directly to the employees,” Barrera said. “It reforms PAGA, so it eliminates the lawsuits (and) it gives employees a more effective and efficient process to have their wages determined through the state agency.”
The chamber says the reform would accomplish this by giving the Labor and Workforce Development Agency more mechanisms to enforce the labor code themselves.
Backers of the initiative have until June 6 to collect the required signatures to qualify for the ballot. Barrera says they have already gotten 60%.
Source: KGET News
April 1, 2022
