Code of Civil Procedure § 1281.97
The drafting party’s deadline to pay fees to initiate arbitration
In mandatory employment arbitration, the employer must pay initiating fees within 30 days — or be in material breach and lose the right to compel.
Read the official text at California Legislative Information →
Overview
Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.97 is part of a 2019 package designed to stop employers and other drafting parties from stalling consumer and employment arbitrations by withholding the fees needed to commence them. It imposes a strict deadline: the drafting party must pay the fees required to initiate arbitration within 30 days of their due date, or be in material breach.
The statute converts a payment delay into a substantive forfeiture of the right to arbitrate, giving the employee a powerful tool to return the dispute to court.
The 30-day rule
When an employee subject to a mandatory arbitration agreement submits to arbitration, the drafting party must pay the fees and costs required to initiate the proceeding within 30 days after they are due. Failure to pay within that window is a material breach of the arbitration agreement.
On a material breach, the employee may withdraw the claim from arbitration and proceed in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, or compel arbitration and seek statutory remedies. The deadline is strict and is not subject to the drafting party’s good-faith excuses.
Federal preemption
Whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts these fee-payment statutes has been heavily litigated; the California Supreme Court addressed the question in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court. Practitioners relying on section 1281.97 should confirm the current state of FAA-preemption doctrine. (See Hohenshelt.)
The interaction of the arbitration-fee statutes with the Federal Arbitration Act was addressed by the California Supreme Court in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court (2025) 18 Cal.5th 310.
Practice notes
For employees forced into arbitration, monitor the drafting party’s fee payments closely; a late initiating payment under section 1281.97 can return the case to court and trigger mandatory sanctions under section 1281.99. Document the due date and the date of payment precisely.
Related on this site
Practitioner analysis, current as of June 2026 — not the statute itself. Statutes are amended and decisional law evolves; confirm the operative language and current authority at the official source before relying.