California Employment News: Overview of the Fast Food Minimum Wage Increase AB122
Leveraging Data and Technology to Achieve Scalable Food Service
From More Delivery, Takeout and Outdoor Dining Options to Financial Relief – How Restaurants Have Managed Throughout the Pandemic
In the spirit of the season, we are using our annual "12 Days of California Labor and Employment" blog series to address new California laws and their impact on employers. On the tenth day of the holidays, my labor and...more
Employers with tipped employees are constantly trying to keep up with the ever-changing and evolving tip credit rules promulgated by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) — specifically, what is known as the 80/20 rule....more
California’s newly established Fast Food Council was inundated at its September 12 meeting by competing testimony – organized labor on one side and restaurant groups on the other – about potential plans to raise the industry...more
On September 18, 2024, at the request of the State of Michigan and its attorney general, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified issues relating to future minimum wage rates and minimum cash wage rates for tip-credit employees...more
Hospitality employers take note – the Department of Labor’s (DOL) tip rule has been struck down. The tip credit is a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) that allows employers to pay tipped employees a lower...more
In a highly anticipated opinion, on August 23, 2024, the Fifth Circuit in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor (Case No. 23-50562) struck down a Final Rule promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that...more
On August 23, 2024, in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) December 2021 final rule that had set strict limits on...more
On August 23, 2024, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a final rule promulgated by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) restricting when employers could take a tip credit for tipped employees under the Fair Labor...more
In a long-awaited decision, the Department of Labor (DOL) regulation setting strict limits on the amount of time that tipped employees can spend performing work that does not directly generate tips has been struck down by the...more
Tips from Seyfarth is a blog series for employers, and their in-house lawyers and HR, payroll, and compensation professionals, in the food, beverage, and hospitality sector. We curate wage and hour compliance “tips” to keep...more
Almost half of the states, and several major localities, will increase their minimum wage rates in 2024, with a majority of the changes effective on January 1, 2024. The table below lists state and certain major locality...more
Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the FAST Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (AB 257), which sought to increase the California minimum wage to $22 per hour, with annual increases thereafter, and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: California has increased the minimum wage of fast food workers to $20, and authorized the creation of the Fast Food Council comprised of representatives from labor and management to set minimum standards...more
Effective January 1, 2024, the general statewide minimum wage will increase by .50 cents, bringing the hourly rate from $15.50 to $16.00. Please also keep in mind that many (around 35-40) cities and counties in...more
In 2022, Washington D.C. voters passed Initiative 82, or the “District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act,” which later became law in February 2023. As we previously reported, the law will gradually phase out the “tip...more
On September 11, 2023, industry, government, and union representatives announced that they had reached a deal to remove a California referendum on the Fast Food Accountability and Standards (“FAST”) Recovery Act from the 2024...more
For years, California has led the way in the fast food industry, with several prominent brands having their origins in the Golden State. More recently, California has shown innovation in the ways that the employment of fast...more
Dear Littler, We operate sandwich shops in a couple of states. Although we have tables, we don’t have table service, and customers pick up food at the counter themselves to either take out or seat themselves at our...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: After a remand from the Fifth Circuit, a trial court has upheld the validity of the Department of Labor’s 2021 regulation codifying the 80/20 rule, raising the possibility of another appeal....more
In Restaurant Law Center et al. vs. US Department of Labor, Case 1:21-cv-01106-RP (W.D. Tex. July 6, 2023), the Texas Federal District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the DOL, upholding the DOL’s December 2021...more
In recent years, persons or groups unhappy about a new federal law or regulation have chosen to file suit in a selected federal district court, often in Texas, seeking a nationwide injunction to prohibit the new measure from...more
Executive Summary: On July 6, 2023, a federal district court upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) regulations on the type and amount of work that tipped employees may perform while being paid the reduced minimum wage...more
In the restaurant/service industry, gratuities (To Ensure Prompt Service or “tips”) motivate individuals to seek employment. Everywhere you turn, even if you did not receive any real service, workers are seeking tips....more
On April 28, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered a Texas court to further consider a legal challenge to the United States Department of Labor’s 80/20 Rule, which applies to employers that take a tip...more