Index
Employment & LaborCalifornia, USA

California Fast Food Minimum Wage Law

Summary

Starting in April 2024, California law specifically mandates a separate, significantly higher minimum wage exclusively for fast-food workers at large national chains.

Rights & Rules

  • 01.
    If you work at a fast-food restaurant that is part of a chain with 60 or more locations nationwide, your minimum wage is $20.00 per hour (as of April 2024).
  • 02.
    This applies to cashiers, cooks, and other standard restaurant staff.
  • 03.
    The law also created a 'Fast Food Council' that has the power to raise this specific minimum wage every year by up to 3.5% (or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower).
  • 04.
    Restaurants that bake and sell their own bread as a standalone menu item (like Panera Bread) are generally EXEMPT from this rule and only have to pay the standard state minimum wage.

Penalties

  • 01.
    Fast-food chains that fail to pay the $20/hr minimum can be sued for wage theft, facing massive back-pay obligations and severe state fines.

Verified Citations

California Labor Code Section 1474

Source
"On and after April 1, 2024, the minimum wage for fast food restaurant employees shall be twenty dollars ($20) per hour..."