Most PAGA cases start with a violation the employer treats as routine — until it multiplies across an entire workforce. Here are five of the most common.
1. Automatic Meal-Break Deductions
Some employers automatically deduct 30 minutes for lunch without confirming the worker actually took an uninterrupted, off-duty break. When workers stay on the clock through “lunch,” that’s an owed premium of one hour’s pay per day (Labor Code §226.7).
2. Improper Wage Statements
California requires nine specific items on every pay stub (Labor Code §226). Missing the employer’s legal name, hours worked, or accurate rates is a violation — and one that’s provable from the stub itself.
3. Unpaid Overtime, Minimum Wage, or Expenses
Failing to pay time-and-a-half after 8 hours a day or 40 a week, paying below minimum wage, or refusing to reimburse necessary business costs (mileage, phone, supplies — even forced “business license” fees) all trigger liability.
4. Retaliation and Punitive Attendance Policies
Policies that punish protected sick leave or discourage workers from asserting their rights can themselves be violations.
5. Off-the-Clock Work
Requiring workers to prep, clean up, travel between sites, or answer messages before clocking in or after clocking out is unpaid work — and when it’s company policy, it affects everyone.
Because these are usually policies, not one-off mistakes, PAGA turns them into representative actions covering the whole workforce.
This is general information from the Workers Rights Compliance Alliance, not legal advice. Think you’ve experienced violations like these? Use the free Wage Claim Builder to itemize what you may be owed, or report the business confidentially. Filing is free, retaliation is illegal (Labor Code §98.6), and your immigration status does not matter.
