 Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced federal legislation aimed at curbing wage theft and increasing enforcement against employers who withhold worker pay. The Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act (S. 4919 / H.R. 9458) seeks to update labor standards and increase penalties for violations of wage and hour laws.
Studies from research organizations, including the Economic Policy Institute, estimate that wage violations cost American workers tens of billions of dollars annually. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered more than $259 million in back wages in the last fiscal year alone. Common violations include unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, illegal tip pooling, and paying below minimum wage. Under existing federal law, workers seeking back pay through legal channels are often limited to recovering minimum wage or statutory overtime baselines rather than their contracted hourly rates. The proposed legislation would change this by permitting workers to recover the full amount of agreed-upon compensation. Additional provisions in the bill would increase liquidated damages, require detailed pay stubs, prohibit pre-dispute forced arbitration agreements for wage claims, and extend the statute of limitations during active Department of Labor investigations. Lauren Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times. If you would like to speak with her about an employment matter, click here.
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 On July 23, Lauren Teukolsky chaired the California Lawyers Association's Annual Advanced Wage and Hour Conference . The conference featured a panel covered by Law360 focusing on the new reforms to the Private Attorney Generals Act (PAGA) which deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits for labor violations and recover civil penalties on behalf of the state. The panel speakers included Todd Ratshin, deputy secretary for enforcement at the Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), Elliot Siegel, partner at King & Siegel LLP, and Tritia Murata, partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Ms. Teukolsky moderated the panel.
The panelists discussed new proposed rules that will change how attorneys must handle PAGA wage-and-hour cases. Under the new rules, workers must use a standardized PAGA notice form listing information about employment dates, workplace location, the alleged Labor Code violations, and a plain statement of the case facts. The purpose of the new notice requirements is to address PAGA abuse by a handful of bad actors who file voluminous boilerplate PAGA notices that fail to put the LWDA or employers on notice of the real violations being alleged. Referring to PAGA notices filed without these basic elements, Law360 quoted Ms. Teukolsky on the panel saying, “I can't even believe that there has to be a rule about that, frankly.” Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times. To read the Law 360 article, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here.  On July 23, Lauren Teukolsky chaired the California Lawyers Association's Annual Advanced Wage and Hour Conference. The conference was covered by Law360, which interviewed Ms. Teukolsky about AB 2155, a recent California law aimed at expanding the state’s forced arbitration exemptions to mirror federal law.
As the article explains, California has its own arbitration law, the California Arbitration Act (CAA). Before the new law went into place, the CAA lacked certain exemptions contained in the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Specifically, the FAA excludes “transportation workers” from arbitration, as well as sexual harassment and assault claims. California law had no such exemptions. Law 360 quoted Ms. Teukolsky saying, “Generally speaking, California law is far more protective of employees than federal law. Oddly, the one place where that was not true was in our arbitration law." Governor Newsom recently signed AB 2155 was into law to close the loophole. It provides that exemptions to the FAA apply equally to the CAA. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2027. This means if arbitration agreements are covered by the CAA, transportation workers such as delivery drivers will be exempted from arbitration. Similarly, under the CAA, no sexual harassment or assault cases may be sent to arbitration. (The California Court of Appeal already reached this conclusion, holding the CAA was preempted to the extent it would require arbitration of sexual harassment or assault cases.) Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, The Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times. To read the Law 360 article, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here. |
AuthorLauren Teukolsky is the founder and owner of Teukolsky Law, A Professional Corporation. Archives
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Teukolsky Law, A Professional Corporation, represents clients throughout California. Ms. Teukolsky is admitted to practice in the State of California, as well as the United States Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Northern District of California and Central District of California. Disclaimer.
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Copyright © 2017