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A first-of-its-kind law granting California fast-food workers a major role in setting the wage and hour standards imposed on the state’s quick-service restaurants has moved a step closer to becoming law.
The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, better known as the FAST Act, would also legislate that franchisors of fast-food restaurants are joint employers of their franchisees’ staffs, subject to the same sanctions and legal actions. That provision alone has roused the local restaurant industry to declare the measure a bombshell.
The heart of the bill is the call for the creation of a council with the power to set employment and operating standards for fast-food restaurants within the state, the nation’s largest foodservice market.
That authority extends to wages, hours, training practices and general working conditions.
The state legislature would have a window of time to reject or alter the standards put forth by the council. Similarly, the state Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Cal/OSHA) has the authority to reject council decisions that conflict with the safety agency’s existing rules.
The composition of the council is particularly controversial. The 13-person group would include two representatives of fast-food restaurant workers and two union officials or other labor advocates.
Management would be represented by two people from the restaurant franchisor committee and two delegates from fast-food franchises.
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