Expanded Rights for Employees to Sue Their Employers for Paid Sick Leave Violations

California is known for its protective paid sick leave laws for workers.  Under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, often referred to as the Paid Sick Leave Law (“PSLL”), most employers are currently required to provide employees with at least three paid sick days per year.  The California legislature recently expanded the PSLL with S.B. 616, which increases the paid sick leave requirement to five days per year, effective January 1, 2024.

Any employers that violate the law may be required to pay both compensatory and liquidated damages, as well as civil penalties.  However, until recently, only the California Labor Commissioner and the Attorney General have been authorized to sue employers for violations of the PSLL.  Earlier this year, the California Court of Appeal in Wood v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals changed this, clarifying that employees can also sue to enforce paid sick leave violations under the Private Attorney General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”).

PAGA is a law that allows aggrieved employees to sue on behalf of other fellow aggrieved employees to recover civil penalties for labor law violations.  It was originally passed to help relieve the burden of the state’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”), the agency primarily responsible for bringing enforcement actions to collect these civil penalties.  PAGA does not create any new legal rights for employees, but it grants them the power to serve as agents of the state and collect civil penalties for violations of existing labor laws.

In Wood v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Wood filed a PAGA action against Kaiser, alleging that it violated the PSLL by not paying employees sick leave at “the correct rate” and denying employees the right to use sick leave.  In the lawsuit, Wood only sought civil penalties for the PSLL violations.  The trial court initially dismissed the case in favor of Kaiser based on their argument that the PSLL “does not authorize PAGA actions for civil penalties.”  In February 2023, the Court of Appeal reversed that decision after an in-depth review of both the text and the PSLL.  It determined that while the PSLL does not provide employees with a private right of action, it does not preclude an aggrieved employee from bringing a PAGA action on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved employees to seek civil penalties for those violations.

Wood is a great decision for California employees because they are now authorized to stand up for themselves and other aggrieved employees and sue their employer directly for paid sick leave violations.  You can learn more about S.B. 616’s expansion of the PSLL here.  If you are aware of any violations of California’s paid sick leave law, please contact your labor law counsel.