Wages
Maine – A house committee heard two minimum wage bills. The first was a proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr by 2024, increasing it by an additional $1/yr until 2033 and then tying it to inflation thereafter. The second bill is a Republican-led effort at local minimum wage preemption. Neither bill received a vote but additional work sessions are scheduled. More details.
Maryland – The governor signed legislation to accelerate by one year the adoption of a $15/hr minimum wage. The increase was originally slated for Jan. 2025; however, now the increase will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. An earlier version of the legislation also included tying the wage to the Consumer Price Index (a priority of the governor) but that language wasn’t included in the final bill. More details.
Ft. Collins, CO – The city council is considering three different minimum wage proposals. One would raise the local wage to $16.65/hr by 2026, one to $17.29/hr by 2026 and the third to $18.50/hr by 2026. City staff have been ordered to narrow the list to two proposals in advance of a vote by the council May 16. More details.
Los Angeles, CA – Legislation was proposed this week to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers to $25/hr immediately and $30/hr by 2028. As introduced, the increase applies to workers in hotels with over 60 rooms and certain workers at LAX airport. The proposal could be voted on early this summer. More details.
Labor Policy
California – A joint employer bill focused squarely on the quick service restaurant sector advanced out of an assembly committee. It would require that a fast food restaurant franchisor share with its fast food restaurant franchisee all civil legal responsibility and civil liability for the franchisee’s violations of prescribed laws and orders or their implementing rules or regulations. The bill would authorize enforcement of those provisions against a franchisor, including administratively or by civil action, to the same extent that they may be enforced against the franchisee. The language is similar to the joint employer language removed from AB 257, the FAST Act. And, the sponsor of the FAST Act is sponsoring this bill. More details.
California – The state Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board announced it will hold a public hearing on May 18 regarding a proposed indoor heat illness prevention standard from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The board will accept public comments until May 18. If ultimately approved, the proposed standard will require employers to: establish, implement, and maintain a written heat illness prevention program, which may be part of employers’ injury and illness prevention programs; provide fresh, cool drinking water free of charge; maintain cooldown areas; collect temperature and heat index measurements, and; assess prevention program control measures, among other provisions. Kitchens were specifically mentioned as a problem area. More details.
Tennessee – Legislation is on its way to the governor that would ensure that local governments cannot regulate various aspects of labor and employment law including hours, employee output, benefits, and wages. More details.
Labor Activism
California – A senate committee advanced legislation requiring the Health Department to make a list of all certified food handler training programs along with the cost of each program available on its website by Jan. 1, 2025. Local public health departments would be required to provide a link of this page on their website, or include the same list on their website. In addition, the bill would require an employer to pay the employee for any cost associated with the employee obtaining a food handler card. That includes but is not limited to the time it takes for the employee to complete the training, the cost of the food handler certification program, and the time it takes to complete the certification program. The bill further requires an employer to relieve an employee of all other work duties while the employee is taking the training course and examination. And, an employer would be prohibited from conditioning employment on an applicant or employee having an existing food handler card. The bill was originally filed in response to the New York Times piece regarding the National Restaurant Association and its ServSafe program. The bill now moves to an additional senate committee. More details.
REI – Employees in a Boston store filed for a union election. The store is the sixth in the outdoor equipment chain to push for union recognition in the past year. Workers in New York City, NY; Berkeley, CA, and; Cleveland, OH have held successful votes, and employees in Chicago, IL and Eugene, OR recently filed for elections as well. More details.
Delivery
Indiana – Legislation is on its way to the governor prohibiting a third-party food delivery service from providing any services related to facilitating, processing, or delivering an online order for a covered establishment unless the covered establishment expressly agrees to allow the third-party food delivery service to provide those services. More details.
Sustainability
Delaware – The senate passed legislation banning restaurants from serving ready-to-eat food in containers made of polystyrene as of July 1, 2025. The bill also prohibits food vendors from providing single-use plastic straws unless requested by a consumer. The bill now heads to the house. More details.
Maryland – A heavily-amended Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) bill is on its way to the governor’s desk for likely approval. The amended bill now calls for establishing an advisory council and requiring the Maryland Department of the Environment to hire an independent consultant to conduct a statewide recycling needs assessment. The assessment must cover details of the state’s current solid waste and recycling systems, including its infrastructure and capacity, as well as key costs and revenues. It must also determine disposal and recycling methods by material type and amount, as well as estimate how many materials are currently not being recycled. The original legislation had called for the establishment of a formal EPR program and it should be expected that similar legislation returns next year. More details.
New York City, NY – Legislation was introduced that would require corporate-owned, fast-casual restaurants to offer customers reusable food packaging that can be returned, sanitized, and reused. If passed, restaurants not offering reusable options would be fined $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second, and so on for every new offense. More details.
Misc.
Arizona – Legislation that would have essentially copied California’s Franchise Relations Act failed to meet the crossover deadline and appears to be dead for the year. More details.
Arkansas – Amended legislation is on its way to the governor that will impact franchisor / franchisee agreements. The original bill would have dramatically impacted existing franchise agreements in the state. Under heavy industry opposition, the bill was substantially amended to more narrowly impact existing agreements. The most relevant provision centers on protecting the transfer of franchise rights to a spouse, child, or heir as long as they are “operationally and financially qualified.”
Florida – Legislation mandating that state and local taxes be excluded from the calculation of credit card interchange fees advanced out of a house committee. Florida is one of nearly ten states with similar legislation pending. More details.
Key Takeaways
- The Arkansas franchise bill demonstrates that threats can quickly emerge outside of blue trifectas, and that well-placed relationships present the industry with tremendous threats/opportunities. The International Franchise Association (IFA) deserves a lot of credit for mobilizing and earning a workable outcome in-state and stomping out what would have been a terrible national precedent.
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Restaurant Business online website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.