Food facilities and employment.

Existing law prescribes various protections for employees and generally charges the Labor Commissioner with the enforcement of labor laws. Existing law establishes the powers and responsibilities of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the Division of Labor Standards and Enforcement, which are within the Department of Industrial Relations. This bill would enact the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act. The bill would establish, until January 1, 2029, the Fast Food Council (council) within the Department of Industrial Relations, to be composed of 10 members to be appointed by the Governor, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Senate Rules Committee, and would prescribe its powers. The purpose of the council would be to establish sectorwide minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working conditions related to the health, safety, and welfare of, and supplying the necessary cost of proper living to, fast food restaurant workers, as well as effecting interagency coordination and prompt agency responses in this regard. The bill would define the characteristics of a fast food restaurant, including that the establishment be part of a set of fast food restaurants consisting of 100 or more establishments nationally that share a common brand, or that are characterized by standardized options for decor, marketing, packaging, products, and services. This bill would require the council to promulgate minimum fast food restaurant employment standards, including standards on wages, working conditions, and training, and to issue, amend, and repeal any other rules and regulations, as necessary to carry out its duties, subject to a petition signed by 10,000 fast food restaurant employees approving the creation of the council, as specified. Under the bill, if a conflict exists between council's standards, rules, or regulations and those issued by another state agency, the standards, rules, or regulations issued by the council would apply to fast food restaurant workers and fast food restaurant franchisees and franchisors, and the conflicting rules or regulations of the other state agency would not have force or effect with respect to these parties. The bill would except from this application proposed standards within the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board and would prescribe a process for the council to petition the board to adopt, amend, or repeal a standard. This bill would require the council to submit a report to the Legislature, as specified, for a standard, or repeal or amendment of a standard, to become effective, and would specify that a standard, repeal, or amendment shall not take effect before October 15 of the same year. The bill would also require the council to provide information as requested by the appropriate committees of the Legislature on labor to facilitate a review of the council's performance and standards, as specified. This bill would require the council to conduct a full review of the adequacy of minimum fast food restaurant health, safety, and employment standards at least once every 3 years. The bill would require the council, following that review, to issue, amend, or repeal, or make recommendations to issue, amend, or repeal, any fast food employment, health or safety standard applicable to fast food restaurants, as appropriate. The bill would require the council to hold meetings or hearings no less than every 6 months that would be open to the public, as specified, and would authorize the council to coordinate with and authorize local agencies to hold such meetings. The bill would authorize a county, or a city with a population greater than 200,000, to establish a Local Fast Food Council, and would prescribe its powers and requirements for its composition. The bill would authorize a Local Fast Food Council to provide recommendations to the council. This bill would require standards for minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and other working conditions fixed by the council to be the minimum standards for fast food restaurant employees, absent a valid collective bargaining agreement, as specified, and would require that they be enforced by the commissioner, as specified, and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. By expanding the application of crimes associated with those enforcement procedures, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner and the commissioner's deputies to take assignments of violations of standards issued by the council upon the filing of a claim in writing by an employee or an employee's authorized representative. This bill would prohibit a fast food restaurant operator from discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against any fast food restaurant employee for specified reasons and would create a cause of action and right to reinstatement for employees in this connection, as well as a presumption of unlawful discrimination and retaliation in certain circumstances. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.