Estimate a PAGA penalty from the statute itself.
Every figure below is computed from Lab. Code § 2699 — the penalty tiers, the 15% and 30% reasonable-steps caps, the cure rules, weekly halving, and the 65/35 split. Set a scenario and the arithmetic shows its work, line by line, with the subdivision that drives each step.
Reflects California law as of July 13, 2026.
Every figure below is computed from § 2699 itself. Start from a scenario or adjust the inputs, and watch each rule apply, line by line.
Estimated civil penalty: $60,000. No reduction — the maximum default penalty under § 2699(f).
No reduction — the maximum default penalty under § 2699(f).
This is the PAGA penalty only — separate from any unpaid wages, which are recovered through other claims.
- Default penalty$100 × 50 employees × 12 pay periods$60,000§ 2699(f)(2)(A)
Divided among 50 aggrieved employees, that is roughly $420 each.
Reflects California law as of July 13, 2026. Illustrative only — not a prediction and not legal advice. A court may award less, or (above the caps) more, under § 2699(e)(2).
The number is only half the story. How the tiers are set, when the caps are foreclosed, what a cure actually requires, and where courts keep discretion — the full treatment, with the verbatim statute, is on The Penalty & Exposure.