PAGA Reform: El Dub Tries to Rein in the Deputies

by Jennifer Kaiser

PAGA began in 2004 with the best of intentions – also known as the road to hell – and the concept was simple.

The CA legislature believed that the Labor & Workforce Development Agency (street name, El Dub) didn’t have enough resources to enforce every Labor Code violation in the state. So lawmakers decided to deputize employees (and their attorneys) to help enforce the law. And just like that, El Dub suddenly had a whole lot of new enforcers on the streets.

We all know how that worked out. Turns out when you deputize plaintiff attorneys you end up with a lot of very motivated deputies. Also, as a reminder, when PAGA penalties are collected, El Dub always gets the biggest cut of the action (75%).

Flash forward to 2024, and even CA had to acknowledge that the system had become…enthusiastic, so the legislature passed reforms aimed at:

  • Encouraging employers to cure violations
  • Reducing stacked penalties, and
  • Creating more structured procedures

The idea was to keep the enforcement concept but reduce some of the incentives for mass, template-driven filings. To implement those reforms, El Dub has to issue regulations explaining how the system works in practice.

Which brings us to today.

El Dub recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to adopt new PAGA regulations.

The public comment period closes next Monday (3/23/26) so the regulations may still change but six proposals are worth noting.

  1. Claimants would be required to use a standardized PAGA notice and provide short and plain factual statements. The goal here appears to be curbing the classic PAGA notice strategy of: “We believe every Labor Code violation that has occurred in CA since the Gold Rush may have happened here – we’ll figure out the facts later.”
  2. Most filings would need to be submitted through El Dub’s online PAGA portal with the redaction of certain personal identifiers[1]. El Dub wants the filings, not the identity theft starter kit.
  3. The proposed regulations include “Frequent Flyer” restrictions. A high-frequency filer is defined as an employee, attorney, or law firm that has filed 200 or more PAGA notices within the previous 12 months.

If a filer meets that threshold, their notice must also include:

  • A separate certification signed by the claimant themselves (not just their attorney)
  • Confirmation that the claim is not frivolous
  • Confirmation that the claimant has read and believes the allegations

In other words, if you are filing hundreds of PAGA notices per year, El Dub wants reassurance that somebody actually looked at the facts.

  1. The regulations also create a “vexatious filer” designation for claimants who repeatedly submit abusive filings. If someone earns that title, El Dub could require a “prefiling review” and may maintain a public list of vexatious filers.
  2. The proposed regulations also attempt to add more clarity to the cure process, particularly for smaller employers[2]. The regulations outline:
  • What must be included in a cure proposal
  • How cure conferences will be scheduled
  • What information must be submitted before those conferences
  • Procedures for challenging cure determinations
  • And, there are also more detailed provisions regarding wage statement cures
  1. Finally the regulations would expand the documentation that employers must submit to El Dub when settling PAGA claims including complaints, proposed settlements, and final judgements. El Dub would also have at least 45 days to review settlements.

In conclusion, the proposed regulations suggest that El Dub is at least trying to slow down the mass-filing machine and create a more structured enforcement process.

The question now is whether these regulations will meaningfully change the PAGA landscape or whether, like many things in California employment law, they will simply create an entirely new generation of litigation explaining what the regulations mean.

[1] Social Security numbers or taxpayer identification numbers, Personal home addresses, Personal telephone numbers, Personal email addresses, Dates of birth, Names of minor children, Financial account numbers

[2] Defined as fewer than 100 employees during the year before the PAGA notice, counting all employees—exempt, non-exempt, temporary, former, and even out-of-state workers. The LWDA can also aggregate employees across related entities if they operate as a single enterprise