California to Change Labor Law That Cost Businesses $10 Billion
(Bloomberg) -- California’s largest business and labor groups agreed to change a landmark law that has helped workers sue companies such as Walmart Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Google for workplace violations.
The deal caps years of efforts by the state’s employers to rein in the Private Attorneys General Act, which they blame for mounting lawsuits that according to one study have cost businesses $10 billion during the past decade. Advocates say the law, known as PAGA, is a model of worker protection that has given employees a measure of recourse against powerful companies.
California Governor Gavin Newsom Holds News Conference
Governor Gavin Newsom convened weeks of negotiations between the powerful California Chamber of Commerce and the California Labor Federation to hash out the pact. Looming over the talks was a November ballot measure, backed by a coalition of business groups, that would have given voters the opportunity to repeal the PAGA law altogether.
The measure will now be removed from the ballot, and the deal will likely be approved by state lawmakers.
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