Summary

Despite having the strongest workplace laws in the nation, workers in California experience high rates of labor violations that disproportionately harm workers of color and workers in low-wage industries. Lawmakers created the Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) in 2003 to broaden the state’s labor enforcement capacity. Under PAGA, workers file lawsuits on behalf of the Labor & Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”) for company-wide violations. “A Shrinking Toolbox: The Corporate Efforts to Eliminate PAGA and Limit California Worker’s Rights” is the first to analyze the likely impact on workers of a ballot initiative that would dramatically alter California’s tools for preventing and correcting wage theft and other workplace abuses.