Los Angeles county is trying something new to enable cooks and bakers to operate their own little restaurant by allowing them to prepare food in their own home. Starting on November 1, 2024, Los Angeles will begin a new program called the Micro-enterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO). This program will be available in all of Los Angeles County except for Pasadena, Long Beach, and Vernon because these cities have their own health departments.
Read MoreCalifornia’s mandatory $20 minimum wage for fast food workers is already changing the way fast food chains operate. Business owners could have predicted the immediate outcome of California’s infamous $20 fast food minimum wage: rapidly rising prices of fast food and the mass layoff of fast food workers was no surprise. The fallout in the California fast food industry has begun and we are only seeing inklings of the fast food industry’s future. For fast food restaurants and their owners, the simultaneous increase in the 1) worker’s hourly rate, 2) manager’s salary, 3) price of menu items, and 4) price in groceries can be a difficult (if not fatal) balancing act.
Read MoreAfter some confusion regarding the new $20 fast food minimum wage law, California created some last minute exemptions to help clarify which restaurants are required to pay the new minimum wage. However, the last minute exemptions are narrowly tailored, and the new minimum wage likely applies to most fast food restaurants in California. On a practical level, these narrow exemptions will likely have little impact on the cost of labor for employers. For example, if workers are doing the same jobs at both an airport McDonald’s and a stand-alone McDonald’s, there is little incentive for the workers to continue to work at the airport for less pay. Clearly, a pay increase will likely occur across all facets of the fast food industry.
Read MoreMost people are aware of California’s new $20 fast food minimum wage, but some are uncertain whether or not the minimum wage increase applies to their particular restaurant or shop- especially in light of the last minute exemptions signed into law. The phrases “fast food restaurant employee,’ “limited-service restaurant,” and “establishment” are defined in the new law. It is important to be certain whether or not your restaurant is required to pay broadly reaching $20 minimum wage or if you may fall into an exemption, which is discussed in a later blog.
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California has enacted a new law that creates a “selective” minimum wage by creating a minimum wage only for fast food workers. In the span of less than seven months, California fast food workers will receive a $4.50 per hour pay increase. In January of 2024, all other California employees working for minimum wage will receive a pay increase of a mere $0.50 per hour. Fast food employees are clearly receiving a windfall, and fast food employers will now be forced to deal with added rules, regulation, and oversight due to the creation of the fast food council.
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