Labor & Employment Law Blog

On August 1, 2024, California’s Director of Finance certified that the Golden State’s minimum wage for all employers will increase to $16.50 per hour, effective on January 1, 2025. 

Back in February, 2024, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers (the “FCO”) was adopted by the County Board of Supervisors. The FCO became operative and subject to enforcement on September 3, 2024 and adds a variety of additional compliance obligations for covered employers and added protections for covered applicants and employees, above and beyond what existing state law requires. Covered employers must ensure that they comply with the stricter of state and local laws governing the use of criminal history in employment.

On January 1, 2024, California’s statewide minimum wage rate increased to $16 per hour. Alongside this hike to the minimum wage, the base salary requirement for California employees exempt under the administrative, professional, and executive exemptions increased to an annualized salary of $66,560.

The local minimum wage will increase on July 1, 2024 in the following locations in California:

Lately, Deputy Labor Commissioners have been making unannounced visits to fast food stores in Los Angeles County to conduct audits. They arrive, sometimes alone, and sometimes in pairs, and ask for the manager.  The Deputy Labor Commissioners insist on conducting the audit while they are on the premises, and they have not been amenable to requests to come back on a date and time that is more convenient.  Below, please find useful information about the types of information that will be sought by the Deputy Labor Commissioners if you are subject to such an audit.

As an update to our previous post on the Fast Food Industry Minimum Wage (A.B. 1228:  Implications for Exempt Employees in the Fast Food Industry), on March 26, 2024, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 610 which amends the definition of “fast food restaurant” to exempt restaurants in airports, hotels, theme parks, museums, event centers, and other locations from the Fast Food Council requirements, which took effect April 1, 2024.

Last year, Governor Newsom signed AB 1228, which repealed the FAST Recovery Act but established a modified version of the Fast Food Council (Council) through January 1, 2029. Importantly, the bill set forth minimum wage increases for fast food restaurant employees, with an increase to a minimum wage of $20.00 per hour for such employees effective April 1, 2024. 

On July 31, 2023, California’s Director of Finance certified that the state’s minimum wage for all employers will increase to $16 per hour, effective on January 1, 2024. 

This announcement followed the completion of an annual review by the state’s Department of Finance in order to determine if the minimum wage must be increased due to inflation and, if so, to calculate the new minimum wage in accordance with state Labor Code requirements.

On September 12, 2022, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, held that employees are entitled to recover attorney’s fees and costs stemming from a claim for failure to provide uninterrupted rest periods. Betancourt v. OS Restaurant Services, LLC, Case No. B293625 (Cal. Ct. App 2022). In her complaint, plaintiff Raquel Betancourt also alleged that she was retaliated against and wrongfully terminated for reporting these repeated rest break and food safety violations.

On December 28, 2018, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) issued a regulation under the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (49 U.S.C. § 31101, et seq.) that preempted California’s meal and rest break rules.  In doing so, the FMCSA decided that California may no longer enforce its meal and rest break laws with respect to drivers of property-carrying commercial motor vehicles.

On November 15, 2021, the West Hollywood city council enacted an ordinance that establishes a local minimum wage, and requires employers to provide paid and unpaid leave benefits. On May 16, 2022, the city council approved amendments to the ordinance and published Administrative Regulations (637879708613130000 (weho.org)) regarding the law, discussed below.

The ordinance’s minimum wage and leave benefits are restricted to only hourly, non-exempt, employees. There are also exceptions available for unionized employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement.