April 22, 2025

CALL TO ACTION – The Chamber, in partnership with leading business organizations across the state, supported meaningful reforms last year to the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) to curb decades of litigation abuse. As a refresher, PAGA was a well-intentioned effort enacted decades ago to address workplace violations. It unfortunately turned into a vehicle for private attorneys to take advantage of workers, profiting off these cases, financially burdening companies, and rarely benefiting employees.

A deal was announced on June 18th, 2024, between the “Fix PAGA” Coalition, labor leaders, the Governor’s office, and legislative leadership. The legislation for the deal included AB 2288 and SB 92, which moved through the legislature quickly last month. Governor Newsom officially signed the bills into law on July 1st, solidifying and formalizing the PAGA reform deal. This will help refine some of the most burdensome aspects of PAGA for businesses by capping penalties, imposing a one-year time limit on claims, and improving right-to-cure processes.

Now, SB 310 (Wiener) threatens to undo that progress by creating a new private right of action under Labor Code section 210, fueling duplicative lawsuits, stacked penalties, and inflated settlements that harm employers across California. This would open the door to renewed litigation abuse, increase costs for employers of all sizes, and undermine the balance achieved through recent reforms. The Chamber joined a coalition letter voicing our strong opposition to the bill.

We urge you to make your voice heard by reaching out to State Senators, via email or phone. Please feel free to reach out to Chamber Executive Director of Public Affairs, Justine Murray, directly for more updates and information as to how to engage with the legislature as this bill moves through the legislative process this year at jmurray@sdchamber.org.