California law will boost fast food Workers minimum wage to $20/hour in 2024

In the new year, some new rules in California will make things different at work. With AB 1228, the minimum pay for fast food workers will go up to $20 an hour. Only restaurants with more than 60 locations have to follow the rules.

NBC 7 talked to a labor lawyer who said it looks like companies may be changing how they value a group of workers who are often forgotten. Christopher Olmstead works as a labor and employment lawyer and manages other lawyers at Ogletree Deakins in San Diego. He said that a lot of businesses have already changed because of different factors.

"The availability of workers to fill roles—that's really putting upward pressure on wages," stated Olmstead. Californians who worked in fast food restaurants made just over $34,000 a year on average up until now. That's around $16.80 an hour. The cost of living has gone up because of inflation.

Fast Food WorkersPhoto bynewsandsentinel

"A lot of companies have focused on keeping employees and making sure they are happy. Olmstead said, "I think part of the reason for that is that the job market is tough right now, and companies want to make sure they can fill those positions and keep workers after they've been trained." Not only money matters, but also the mindset of the company and the chance to move up.

When businesses and other fields try to hire people, Olmstead said, "They might need to remember that they'd rather work for a fast-food chain and make $20 an hour than make something less."

It seems like there has been a bigger change in how we value workers, especially during the pandemic, says Olmstead. "Fast food restaurants stayed open, and it was talked about how they're frontline workers like many other types of workers," Olmstead said.

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