June 21, 2022
#1 Four-Day Workweek Bill faces a stop
The four-day workweek bill, named under Assembly Bill 2932, looked to shorten the workweek. Currently, California employment laws require that if an employee works over 40 hours during a workweek must earn a rate of one and one-half times its current rate of pay for those excess hours, observing some exceptions. The new bill proposes that employees should receive one and one-half times a regular rate after 32 hours per workweek.
If the bill is enacted, it would also prevent businesses or employers from reducing an employee’s regular rate after the reduced required hours are put into effect. This bill would not apply to businesses with less than 500 employees.
Unfortunately, the proposal did not meet committee deadlines in order to be considered and processed this year. However, the bill could be amended and presented again in 2023.
#2 FAST Recovery Act to give food service workers bargaining power
FAST (Fast-Food Accountability and Standards) Recovery Act, also named Assembly Bill 257 looks to set a new body that would set wage and workplace standards for people working in the fast-food industry in the state of California. This implicates establishing a Fast-Food Sector Council, with 11 representatives positioned by the Governor and state legislators. The Council would be integrated by five representatives from state agencies who would handle health and workplace safety, two employee advocates, two workers, a representative for franchises, and a representative for corporations.
Hearings would take place every six months and in-person meetings every three years to negotiate standards for work conditions, payments, and training. Any fast-food chain with thirty or more locations in the US would be subject to decisions made by the Council.
Last June, the bill fell short by three votes. This year, the bill passed the state Assembly and is now sitting with the California Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on AB 257 is set to take place at the end of the month.
