Following on the post immediately below, "New California Fast Food Wage Law Means Up To $22 Per Hour...".
From the California Globe, September 6:
Governor Newsom Signed AB 257 – What Is the Fast Food Council?This Council will establish minimum standards for the fast food industry on wages, working hours, and working conditions
On September 5, Labor Day, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 257. AB 257 is jointly authored by Assembly Members Chris Holden, Wendy Carrillo, Evan Low, and Luz Rivas. The bill also has eight co-authors from the two houses.
AB 257 is Chapter 246 of the Statutes of 2022. The bill amends Section 96 of the Labor Code and adds Part 4.5.5 to Division 2 of the Labor Code. AB 257 enacted the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act. The new law is effective January 1, 2023.
AB 257 establishes until January 1, 2029 the Fast Food Council with the Department of Industrial Relations. The Council will have 10 members with specified powers. This Council will establish minimum standards for the fast food industry on wages, working hours, and other working conditions related to employees’ health, safety, and welfare.
AB 257 specifies that the Council’s standards will apply, rather than those of any other state agency, for fast food restaurant workers and franchises, except those of Cal-OSHA. This Council will have to report to the Legislature for a standard to become effective, no earlier than October 15 of that same year. And the Council will have to provide any requested information to the Senate and Assembly Labor Committees to review their performance and standards.
Section 1 of the bill names the act the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act.
Section 2 of the bill provides eleven legislative findings and declarations, including that, for years, the fast food sector has been rife with abuse, low pay, few benefits, and minimal job security. Moreover, fast food workers, and the public they serve, face serious and unacceptable risks to their health and safety.
In addition, cooperation between state agencies with responsibility for improving and enforcing health and safety and other worker protection laws, with regular input from business and worker representatives, along with improved incentives to achieve compliance, is critical to protecting fast food workers, customers, and the public.
The Legislature concludes that sector-wide minimum health, safety, and employment standards, including standards concerning wages and other working conditions, identified by an expert body with subject matter expertise and experience in the fast food sector are necessary to protect, maintain, and ensure the health, safety, and welfare of, and to supply the necessary cost of proper living to, fast food restaurant employees.
Section 3 of the bill amends Labor Code Section 96 to allow claims to be made for violations of any standards issued by the Fast Food Council....
....MUCH MORE
