PAGA Penalty Estimator

Penalties are calculated per employee, per pay period, per violation category using the statutory penalty rates under Labor Code sections 2699(f), 226(e), 558 and 1197.1 — except final-pay exposure, which accrues once per separated employee. Three of those are specific penalties the 2024 reform did not touch, because they are those statutes’ own schedules: section 226(e) at fifty dollars for the initial pay period and one hundred for each subsequent one, subject to its four-thousand-dollar per-employee aggregate cap; section 1197.1 at two hundred fifty dollars for a subsequent violation; and section 558 at fifty and one hundred dollars for a violation of any section of Part 2, Chapter 1 — the chapter that contains section 510, so overtime carries the same rate before and after the reform rather than the section 2699(f)(2) default. Violation rates are user-adjustable per category — the default rates represent common analytical assumptions, not empirical data from any specific matter. Post-reform rates reflect the default penalty reduction from $200 to $100 under AB 2288 section 2699(f)(2)(A). Derivative section 226 stacking is modeled as section 2699(i) writes it: barred for post-reform notices unless the violation was knowing and intentional or was a failure to provide a wage statement at all, controlled by an explicit predicate toggle rather than a hidden discount. When the penalty cap toggle is enabled, the 15% or 30% reduction is shown against each of the three scenarios; the settlement-allocation figures are computed from the capped plaintiff-maximum total, and the attorney-fee figure estimates one-third of the gross recovery. Categories carrying a specific statutory penalty are modeled at the subsequent-violation rate.