Senate BillFailedLabor
SB 310: Failure to pay wages: penalties.
What SB 310 does, verified February 3, 2026
This bill aims to amend the labor code to improve the process for recovering penalties for failure to pay wages. Currently, the penalty is either recovered by an employee as a statutory penalty or by the labor commissioner as a civil penalty. The bill would allow the $200 penalty for each subsequent violation, or any willful or intentional violation, to be recovered through an independent civil action. This change would provide employees with more options for seeking compensation for unpaid wages.
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
2In CommitteeCurrent
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: Died on file pursuant to Joint Rule 56. (2026-02-02)Alert me
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| Feb. 02, 2026 | Died on file pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
| Jan. 21, 2026 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Jan. 20, 2026 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. |
| Jan. 20, 2026 | Ordered to second reading. |
| Jan. 20, 2026 | From inactive file. |
Latest bill textAmended version, January 20, 2026 · 491 words
| Amended IN Senate January 20, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate April 10, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 310
| Introduced by Senator Wiener (Coauthor: Senator Wahab) (Coauthor: Assembly Member Haney) |
February 10, 2025 |
An act to amend Section 210 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 310, as amended, Wiener. Failure to pay wages: penalties.
Existing law makes every person who fails to pay the wages of each employee subject to a specified penalty. Existing law makes the initial violation subject to a $100 penalty and each subsequent violation, or any willful or intentional violation, subject to a $200 penalty plus 25% of the amount unlawfully withheld. Existing law requires the penalty to either be recovered by an employee as a statutory penalty or by the Labor Commissioner as a civil penalty, as prescribed.
This bill also would permit the $200 penalty for each subsequent violation, or any willful or intentional violation, to be recovered through an independent civil action, as specified.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 210 of the Labor Code is amended to read:210.
(a) In addition to, and entirely independent and apart from, any other penalty provided in this article, every person who fails to pay the wages of each employee as provided in Sections 201.3, 204, 204b, 204.1, 204.2, 204.11, 205, 205.5, and 1197.5, shall be subject to a penalty as follows:(1) For any initial violation, one hundred dollars ($100) for each failure to pay each employee.
(2) For each subsequent violation, or any willful or intentional violation, two hundred dollars ($200) for each failure to pay each employee, plus 25 percent of the amount unlawfully withheld.
(b) The penalty shall may either be recovered by the employee as a statutory penalty pursuant to Section 98 or through an independent civil action, or by the Labor Commissioner as a civil penalty through the issuance of a citation or pursuant to Section 98.3. The procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations issued by the Labor Commissioner under this section shall be the same as those set forth in subdivisions (b) through to (k), inclusive, of Section 1197.1.
(c) The penalty provided under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) may be recovered by the employee as a statutory penalty through an independent civil action.
(c)
(d) An employee is only entitled to either recover the statutory penalty provided for in this section, pursuant to Section 98 or through an independent civil action, or to enforce a civil penalty as set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 2699, but not both, for the same violation.
(d)
(e) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
Text of SB 310 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions