California Food Wage

Workforce

California's Fast Food Council wonders what the heck it's doing

The wage-setting body for the state's fast-food industry spent most of its third business session listening to employer and labor representatives make the case for their agendas. Yet very little actually got done.

Emerging Brands

Kevin Hart's plant-based restaurant Hart House abruptly shutters all locations

The Los Angeles-based vegan fast-food chain had attempted to redesign the labor model with higher pay, generous benefits.

The drive-thru coffee chain increased its store-level profitability last quarter, despite higher labor costs thanks to the state’s $20 fast-food wage.

Profitability for the burger chain and its sister concept, Del Taco, declined in the quarter, thanks to the state’s fast-food wage. But California was one of the company’s best sales markets.

Reality Check: Wages and other critical issues weren't addressed, with most of the three and a half hours focused on process and past wrongs.

New data from Revenue Management Solutions shows that price increases at fast-food restaurants are increasing at more than twice the national average. And traffic reflects it.

In addition to a 3.5% hike in the sector's minimum wage, union representatives say they'll press the state's new Fast Food Council for pay protections, predictive scheduling and a louder voice.

The research also indicates that jobs and hours are being reduced, and consumers should expect more price hikes. But the statistics are contradicted by other findings, including data from the federal government.

Legislation proposed to the City Council on Tuesday would require employers to provide additional training, more paid time off and advance shift scheduling.

Traffic to fast-food concepts has underperformed the national average, according to data from Placer.ai, while full-service restaurants there have outperformed.

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