California FAST Recovery Act

The Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act (AB 257) is a Californian law which brings multiple reforms to the state's fast food industry. The bill's provisions aim to allow workers and California state to hold fast-food chains responsible for issues like wage theft and overtime pay, and establish a council which itself shall be responsible for establishing minimum standards for fast food workers. The regulations will apply to any chain in California that has at least 100 stores nationwide that share a common brand. The bill has since been passed by both the Assembly and State Senate, and was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 5, 2022.^[1][2][3]

The bill has received widespread support from labor unions and worker advocacy organizations, with Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), arguing that the bill addresses "challenges that workers have faced when trying to change policies by unionizing store by store".^[2] The legislation was the subject of fierce opposition from the fast food industry and various chambers of commerce (including the national chamber) which states that the bill would catalyst inflation and further raise menu prices.^[4] A report from UC Riverside School of Business stated that the act could increase labor costs by 30% to 50% (thereby causing fast-food prices to rise by up to 30%), encourage customers to eat elsewhere (like full-service restaurants and grocery stores), and result in the closure of 1-2,000 fast-food locations statewide, with 30,000 to 45,000 resulting job losses.^[5]: 1

The law has been put on hold until the November 2024 election, after opponents gathered more than 1 million signatures with 712,000 of those deemed valid, surpassing the 623,000 needed to generate a referendum on the law.^[5]