On Labor Day, California's Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed Assembly Bill 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act ("the Act" or "FAST Recovery Act") into law. The FAST Recovery Act aims to protect and give California nonunionized fast-food workers bargaining power for better wages and better working conditions. The FAST Recovery Act creates a 10-member Fast-Food Council ("Council"), that will be tasked with setting California's minimum standards for wages, hours, working conditions, and training for fast-food employees.
Under the Act, the regulated fast-food establishments are defined as those consisting of 100 or more locations nationally that: (1) share a common brand or that are characterized by standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products, and services; and (2) provide food or beverage for immediate consumption on or off premises to customers who order and pay before eating, with items prepared in advance or with items prepared or heated quickly, and with limited or no table service. Accordingly, bakeries and eateries within grocery stores are excluded. Also excluded are employees whose employment is covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement, so long as that agreement offers equal or greater protections than the Council's standards and expressly provides for wages, hours, working conditions, and an hourly rate of pay no less than 30% more than the state minimum wage.
The Council will be comprised of two representatives of...
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