In California, the statute of limitations or window of time in which you can bring a PAGA claim is generally one year from the date of the last labor violation on which the claim is based.
The Private Attorney General Act lets you file lawsuits against your employer for violating labor laws. To do so, you have to follow pre-filing requirements. All of this has to be done before the statute of limitations expires.
The PAGA claim will be dismissed if the statute of limitations runs out.
In this article, I explain what you need to know about California PAGA claims and the deadlines for filing them.
PAGA Claims
A PAGA claim is a California lawsuit for labor violations. You file it against employers for violating state labor laws. If you file a PAGA claim, you pursue penalties as if you were a state agency.
The Private Attorney General Act is a California law. It lets you file a lawsuit on behalf of the State of California.1 It was enacted in 2004 to enforce California’s labor laws better.2
These lawsuits are qui tam claims. They do not pursue compensation for losses you sustain. Instead, the claims pursue the civil penalties that the employer would have to pay for the labor violation.
To file a PAGA claim, you have to satisfy notification requirements. These requirements have to be satisfied within one year of the alleged labor violation.
Notification Requirements
To start a PAGA claim, you have to file a PAGA notice, which is a complaint with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA). It must be filed online with the LWDA and sent to the employer through certified mail.
The notice must identify the Labor Code provisions allegedly violated and include sufficient facts and legal theories to support the claim.3 You do not have to identify every affected employee at this stage.4 However, the PAGA notice has to be more than a list of violations with no factual support.5
The PAGA notice that gets sent to the employer by certified mail puts them on notice of the claim. The PAGA notice sent to the LWDA gives them the opportunity to intervene. The LWDA can investigate the claim. It has 65 days to decide.
If they decide not to intervene, you can file your own lawsuit. That lawsuit would move forward as a representative claim. This is similar to a class action.
At this point, you have 60 days to amend your claims.6 You can add other labor violations.7
How Long You Have to File a PAGA Claim
You have one year to file your PAGA notice. This is the statute of limitations for PAGA claims. The year begins on the day of the last labor violation mentioned in the claim.8
This one year does not include the 65 days for the LDWA to consider an intervention. It also does not include the 60 days that you have to amend the complaint.
The PAGA notice is effective on the day it is filed online.9
Example: Carlos is fired in violation of California labor law on July 1, 2019. He has until June 30, 2020, to file the PAGA notice online. If he files it on the last day, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency would have until September 3, 2020, to decide whether to intervene.
If they do not decide until September 3, Carlos can pursue the case as a representative claim. He has until November 2 to amend his lawsuit.
If the Statute of Limitations Passed
If you do not file the PAGA notice within one year, the lawsuit will easily be dismissed.
As discussed in the previous section, this one-year statute of limitations is tolled (paused) during the 65 days after you notify the LWDA. Then, after the statute of limitations expires, the “relation back doctrine” gives you 60 additional days to amend your complaint without your PAGA claim being time-barred.10
Note that there is a narrow exception where you may be able to bring PAGA claims for labor violations that occurred more than one year ago: It is when you are still currently employed and are still governed by an unlawful employment agreement.11
A PAGA claim is a lawsuit for labor violations. It can be brought by aggrieved workers in California.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I still have one year to file a PAGA claim?
Yes, the statute of limitations remains one year. However, the 2024 reform clarifies that you must have personally experienced the labor violation within that one-year window to have “standing” to sue. You can no longer bring a representative claim if your own individual violation occurred more than a year ago, even if you are still working for the employer.
Can I sue for labor violations that didn’t happen to me personally?
No. Under the new rules, you must have personally experienced each specific Labor Code violation you are alleging in your lawsuit. For example, if you experienced unpaid overtime but always received your meal breaks, you can no longer sue on behalf of other employees for meal break violations.
How much of the penalty money do I actually get?
The 2024 legislation increased the worker’s share. For claims filed after June 19, 2024, 35% of the recovered civil penalties go to the “aggrieved employees,” while the remaining 65% goes to the State (LWDA). Previously, employees only received 25%.
Can my employer stop the lawsuit by “fixing” the problem?
Yes. The new law significantly expands the “Right to Cure.” Employers can now fix a wider range of violations (including meal/rest breaks and overtime pay) by paying the owed wages, 7% interest, and reasonable attorney fees. If the employer “cures” the violation correctly, it can drastically reduce or even eliminate the civil penalties you can collect.
What are “reasonable steps” and how do they affect my claim?
If an employer can prove they took “all reasonable steps” to follow the law (such as regular payroll audits, supervisor training, and clear written policies) before you filed your notice, the court can cap their penalties at only 15% of the maximum. If they take these steps within 60 days after your notice, the cap is 30%.
Can the court make the employer change their company policies?
Yes. For the first time, PAGA now allows for injunctive relief. This means a judge can order the employer to physically change their business practices or stop specific unlawful behaviors, in addition to paying monetary penalties.
Additional Resources
For more information, refer to the following:
- California Labor & Workforce Development Agency PAGA Resource Page – State agency’s info page explaining the PAGA process.
- PAGA: A Decade of Victories – Overview of PAGA cases from an employee rights organization.
- Lowe’s Ex-Worker Case Leads New Shot for Clarity on PAGA Rulings – Recent article by Bloomberg Law.
- PAGA settlements and the unintended consequences on California workers – Recent editorial by The Orange County Register.
- California’s two-decade battle over PAGA labor law still rages – Recent editorial by Cal Matters.
Legal References:
- California Labor Code 2698 et seq. See also Assembly Bill 2288 (2024). Senate Bill 92 (2024). See also Brown v. Dave & Buster’s of California, Inc. (Cal. 2025) 116 Cal.App.5th 164.
- Williams v. Superior Court (Cal. 2017) 398 P.3d 69.
- California Labor Code 2699.3(a)(1)(A). See also Green v. Bank of America, N.A. (9th Cir. 2015) 634 Fed. Appx. 188.
- Cardenas v. McLane Foodservices, Inc. (C.D. Cal., 2011) 796 F. Supp. 2d 1246.
- Alcantar v. Hobart Service (9th Cir., 2015) 800 F.3d 1047.
- California Labor Code 2699.3(a)(2)(C).
- Caliber Bodyworks, Inc. v. Superior Court (Cal. App., 2005) 134 Cal.App.4th 365.
- California Code of Civil Procedure 340(a). See also Brown v. Ralphs Grocery Co. (Cal. App. 2018) 28 Cal.App.5th 824.
- California Labor Code 2699.3(a)(2)(A).
- Same. Esparza v. Safeway, Inc. (Cal. App. 2d Dist. June 10, 2019) 36 Cal. App. 5th 42; Robles v. Schneider Nat’l Carriers, Inc. (C.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2017) 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 132065.
- Johnson v. Maxim Healthcare Servs., Inc. (Cal. Ct. App. 2021) 66 Cal. App. 5th 924. Ambuehl v. Collins (Los Angeles Superior Court, 2021) Case No. 20STCV13565. Green v. Von Dutch, LLC, (Riverside Super. Ct., 2021) Case No. CVRI2101925.
