With one day left to spare before the deadline to introduce new bills, on February 16, 2023, California Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-41) introduced Assembly Bill 1228, the “Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act.” This bill would, among other things, impose joint employer liability on fast food franchisors for the acts of their franchisees.
The introduction of this bill comes on the heels of the California Secretary of State’s certifying a ballot referendum on earlier-passed (but delayed) legislation, the “Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery” or “FAST” Act (AB 257), which potentially creates the nation’s first statewide Fast Food Council to regulate California’s fast food industry. In the weeks leading up to passage of the bill last year, significant negotiating took place in the state capitol to amend the law in order to get it passed in both houses and signed by the governor (93 amendments to be exact.) Arguably the most important change to emerge from this legislative tussle was the removal of a provision in the bill that would have allowed joint employer liability of a fast food franchisor for the acts of a fast food franchisee. Opponents of the law are engaged in an effort to repeal the measure by way of a statewide referendum. To that end, the FAST Act will be on the November 2024 ballot, much to the chagrin of organized labor and the legislative members who drafted the bill.
With the FAST Act on hold for the next year and a half, the state legislature...
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