On February 6, 2026, the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking announcing its intent to add a new chapter to the California Code of Regulations to implement the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA).

Since its inception in 2004, PAGA litigation has posed outsized risk to California employers and conversely sprouted a cottage industry of Plaintiff’s lawyers seeking to game the system with garden-variety “gotcha” claims for penalties sought on behalf of the State of California.

While the legislative reforms of 2024 promised employers guardrails, enhanced cure rights, and incentives for good-faith compliance, in practice the amendment has had little success in mitigating PAGA lawsuits. Instead, PAGA filings have continued to rise, oftentimes on the backs of boilerplate claims, each indistinguishable from the next with little recourse for California employers - many of which have opted to flee the state and do business elsewhere.

However, there may yet be cause for optimism via the LWDA’s proposed regulations, which aim to fill in the operational details missing from the reformed statute itself.

A Higher Bar for PAGA Notices

The proposed regulations seek to significantly tighten how employees (or their counsel) must submit PAGA Notices to the LWDA, including:

  • Using an LWDA form with fillable fields requiring specific pieces of information about the employee and their claims;
  • Factual specificity, including background information regarding the employee’s employment, and the facts and theories supporting each alleged Labor Code violation;
  • A certification, signed by the employee or attorney, verifying the claims have legal and evidentiary support.

For employers, this could mean fewer boilerplate “catch-all” notices, more defined or limited allegations at the outset, and in turn, a more meaningful opportunity to respond.

To that end, the proposed regulations would also add guidance for employers wishing to submit a formal response to the LWDA, including describing the content and process required of the response. Through this added structure, the LWDA appears to encourage a more balanced administrative exchange rather than a one-sided filing.

Frequent Filer Restrictions

The State’s recent announcement seeks to curtail boilerplate PAGA Notices, emphasizing that certain practices “have frustrated the purposes of PAGA’s administrative notice and investigation procedures, including attorneys who file PAGA notices that generally repeat boilerplate, conclusory, or frivolous allegations.” To address this abuse, the proposed regulations introduce the concept of a “high-frequency” filer.

This designation would apply to an alleged aggrieved employee, or their attorney or law firm, who have filed 200 or more PAGA notices in the preceding 12 months. High frequency filers would be required to submit with their PAGA notices an additional certification by the aggrieved employee stating the employee has reviewed the notice and believes the allegations have support.

Repeated failure to comply with notice requirements would result in a “vexatious filer” designation, subjecting future filings to additional screening and greater scrutiny.

Clarity for the Cure Process

The 2024 PAGA reform included a “cure” option for small employers with fewer than 100 employees, but remained vague as to practical steps to achieve it. The proposed regulations fill in the gaps by outlining:

  • What must be included in an employer’s cure statement;
  • How to prepare for and participate in the cure conference;
  • How the LWDA will review and determine whether the cure is sufficient to reduce or eliminate penalties.

The proposed regulations also confirm that cure-related communications are protected under Evidence Code section 1152, reinforcing that meaningful participation in the cure process will not later be used against employers in litigation.

Greater Settlement Oversight

PAGA settlements require approval from both the LWDA and the Court, yet in practice, PAGA approval motions have often been formulaic, thinly supported, and overwhelmingly without any input from the LWDA, itself. The proposed regulations would impose additional obligations for settlement approval, including requiring notice be provided to all other employees who have filed PAGA notices against the same employer. Those employees would have the opportunity to submit comments to the LWDA, potentially impacting its decision as to whether to approve the settlement, and creating an additional obstacle to settlement and dismissal of the case.

A Cautiously Optimistic Outlook for Employers

Overall, the proposed regulations reflect a deliberate effort to recalibrate PAGA: encouraging compliance, discouraging abuse, and creating more predictable procedures. With proactive compliance strategies and informed legal guidance, employers can benefit from the recent changes in the reformed PAGA statute, and the LWDA’s proposed regulations offer further guidance and protection for diligent employers.

However, these regulations remain in the proposal stage and may face opposition from segments of the plaintiffs’ bar. Meanwhile, employer advocacy groups have largely welcomed the framework and have already begun submitting comments in support.

In that regard, any interested person, company, or their representative are encouraged to submit written comments relevant to the proposed rulemaking to the LWDA no later than March 23, 2026.