Plus Employees, the Labor Commissioner, And Public Prosecutors Are Entitled To Mandatory Fees And Costs For Judgment Enforcement Efforts Under SB 261, Effective January 1, 2026.
Employers who received adverse wage/compensation judgments in Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) proceedings now face civil penalties and mandatory fee/costs awards unless they satisfy or reach an accord with the employee within 180 days after the appeal period expires, with the employee, Labor Commissioner, or public prosecutors having standing for purposes of enforcing the unpaid judgment. Specifically, SB 261, which is effective January 1, 2026, provide these important features for employers to consider when faced with adverse DLSE unpaid judgments described above: (1) up to triple civil penalties, meaning up to three times the unpaid judgment amount, will be added to the unpaid judgment (Lab. Code, § 238.05(a)); and (2) employee, the Labor Commissioner, and public prosecutors are entitled to prevailing party, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs in connection with their judgment enforcement efforts (Lab. Code, § 238.10).