On Labor Day (Sept. 5, 2022), California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the radical (and likely illegal) California Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, better known as the “FAST Act.” California Labor Code, Div. 2, Part 4.5.5., §§1470 et seq.

The Act establishes a Fast Food Council within California’s Department of Industrial Relations which will impose on “fast food restaurants” (which are part of a “chain”, see definitions below) minimum standards on wages, working hours, working conditions and prohibitions against employee retaliation. Critically, the FAST Act authorized the Council to require “fast food restaurants” to pay their employees a minimum wage of up to $22 per hour commencing Jan. 1, 2023, an amount to be increased annually by the lesser of 3.5% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. By way of reference, the California minimum wage today is $15.50.