Ryan R. Andrews

On July 1, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills into law that significantly revamp the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA). These reforms follow a June 18 deal reached between California labor and business groups and Governor Newsom that will keep an initiative seeking to repeal PAGA off the November ballot.

On January 18, 2024, the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Jorge Luis Estrada et al. v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc., resolving a court of appeal split between the Second District (Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC (2021) 68 Cal. App. 5th 746) and the Fourth District (Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc. (2022) 76 Cal. App.

California has long prohibited post-employment noncompetes, subject to certain narrow exceptions. Recently, it added some teeth to that prohibition in the form of a requirement for employers to notify California employees who are subject to unlawful noncompete clauses/agreements, by February 14, 2024, that those clauses/agreements are void. The notice requirement applies to current employees as well as former employees who were employed after January 1, 2022.