On Feb. 2, 2026, the California Legislature declined to pass legislation (Senate Bill (SB 310)) that would have created a private right of action to recover unpaid wages. Employees who allege lost wages can still seek recovery either as a statutory penalty through the state Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DSLE) or as a civil penalty via the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), but not both for the same violation.

SB 310 targeted the timing of wage payments by proposing a new route for employees to recover penalties under California Labor Code section 210 through an independent civil action — separate from the labor commissioner’s administrative process and PAGA. Section 210 imposes penalties when employers fail to pay wages on time: $100 per employee for an initial violation, and $200 plus 25 percent of the unlawfully withheld amount for each subsequent or willful/intentional violation. SB 310 would have added a third option by expressly authorizing employees to sue directly in court to recover these penalties themselves, especially as an additional claim in a class action.

The bill’s sponsors argued that DLSE wage-claim backlogs and the 35 percent employee share of PAGA penalty recoveries make existing avenues slow and less remunerative for workers; by contrast, a standalone civil action would purportedly allow workers to recover 100 percent of section 210 statutory penalties without waiting for the administrative process. Later amendments narrowed the...

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