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The Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 authorizes an aggrieved employee, as defined, to bring a civil action on behalf of that employee, and other current or former employees against whom a violation of the same provision of the Labor Code was committed, to enforce a violation of any provision of the Labor Code that provides for a civil penalty to be assessed and collected by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, as specified, pursuant to certain notice and cure provisions, as prescribed. In a civil action under the act, existing law caps the civil penalty that may be recovered at 15%, if, prior to receiving the notice of violation, or prior to receiving a certain request for records from the aggrieved employee or the employee’s counsel, the employer has taken all reasonable steps to be in compliance with all provisions identified in the notice, as specified. Similarly, existing law caps the civil penalty at 30% if within 60 days of receiving the notice of violation, the employer has taken all reasonable steps to prospectively be in compliance with all provisions identified in the notice. The act requires an evaluation of whether the employer’s conduct was reasonable to be based on a totality of the circumstances.
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