Section 1471 - [For Suspension and Repeal, See Note] Fast Food Council established(a)(1)The Fast Food Council is hereby established within the Department of Industrial Relations to consist of the following 10 members: (A)One representative from the Department of Industrial Relations.(B)Two representatives of fast food restaurant franchisors.(C)Two representatives of fast food restaurant franchisees.(D)Two representatives of fast food restaurant employees.(E)Two representatives of advocates for fast food restaurant employees.(F)One representative from the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development.(2)The Governor shall appoint the representatives of the state agencies, fast food restaurant employees, fast food restaurant franchisees, and fast food restaurant franchisors. The Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate Rules Committee shall each appoint one representative of an advocate for fast food restaurant employees.(3)The appointments shall be at the will of each appointing power and each member of the council shall serve for a term of four years except that all terms shall end on the date this section becomes inoperative. All terms that end prior to the date that this section becomes inoperative shall end on January 1. Vacancies occurring prior to the expiration of the term shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. A council member shall not serve more than two consecutive terms.(4)The Governor shall designate the chairperson of the council from the membership for the council. The chairperson shall be responsible for convening the council. The person so designated shall hold the office of chairperson at the pleasure of the Governor. The chairperson shall designate a member of the council to act as chairperson in their absence.(5)Each member of the council shall receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each day of their actual attendance at meetings of the council and other official business of the council, in addition to their actual necessary traveling expenses incurred in the performance of their duty as a member.(6)The council may employ necessary assistants, officers, experts, and other employees as it deems necessary, subject to appropriation. All personnel of the council shall be under the supervision of the chairperson or an executive officer to whom the chairperson delegates such responsibility. All such personnel shall be appointed pursuant to the State Civil Service Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 18000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except for the one exempt deputy or employee allowed by subdivision (e) of Section 4 of Article VII of the California Constitution.(7)All meetings of the council shall be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).(b)The council's purposes are to establish sectorwide minimum standards on wages, working hours, and other working conditions adequate to ensure and maintain the health, safety, and welfare of, and to supply the necessary cost of proper living to, fast food restaurant workers and to ensure and effect interagency coordination and prompt agency responses regarding issues affecting the health, safety, and employment of fast food restaurant workers.(c)(1)The council shall provide direction to, and coordinate with, the Governor, executive agencies, and local agencies regarding the health, safety, and employment of fast food restaurant workers.(2)The council shall not promulgate, petition for, issue, amend, or repeal, any standards, rules, or regulations pursuant to subdivision (d) or (e) until after the Director of Industrial Relations receives a petition approving the creation of the council signed by at least 10,000 California fast food restaurant employees.(A)Only a person who is employed by a fast food restaurant in California at the time of signing the petition is entitled to sign it. Each signer shall provide the following on the petition:(ii)Name of the fast food restaurant where the signer is employed at the time of signature.(iii)The California city where the fast food restaurant is located.(iv)Signature, which may be an electronic signature.(B)If a signer provides the information specified in subparagraph (A), it shall be presumed that the signature is genuine and the person signing is a fast food restaurant employee.(C)Within 45 days of receipt of the petition, the Director of Industrial Relations shall verify whether the petition meets the requirements of this subdivision. Verification shall be limited to determining whether the petition contains at least 10,000 signatures and whether the signatures contain the required information. The director may use a random sampling technique to verify whether the signatures contain the required information.(D)If the director verifies that a petition meets the requirements of this subdivision, the council shall convene its first meeting within 90 days of the date of verification.(d)(1)(A)The council shall promulgate minimum fast food restaurant employment standards, including, as appropriate, standards on wages, working conditions, and training, as are reasonably necessary or appropriate to protect and ensure the welfare, including the physical well-being and security, of fast food restaurant workers or to otherwise meet the purposes of this section, subject to the limitations of subdivision (e). The council may also issue, amend, or repeal any other rules and regulations as necessary to carry out its duties under this section or meet the purposes of this section, subject to the limitations of subdivision (e). To the extent there is a conflict between standards, rules, or regulations issued by the council and the rules or regulations issued by another state agency, the standards, rules, or regulations issued by the council shall apply to fast food restaurant workers and fast food restaurant franchisees and franchisors, and the conflicting rules or regulations of the other state agency shall not have force or effect with respect to fast food restaurant workers, franchisees, or franchisors. Decisions by the council regarding standards, rules, and regulations shall be made by an affirmative vote of at least six of the council members. All standards, rules, and regulations by the council shall be issued, amended, or repealed, as applicable, in the manner prescribed in Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.(B)The council shall submit, to the appropriate committees on labor of each house of the Legislature and pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, a report that contains a copy of that standard, repeal, or amendment and a statement of the council's reasons for adopting that standard, repeal, or amendment by January 15. The standard, repeal, or amendment shall not take effect before October 15 of that same year. Nothing herein restrains the Legislature from enacting legislation that prevents a standard, repeal, or amendment from taking effect.(C)This paragraph shall not apply to emergency standards adopted pursuant to Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of the Government Code.(2)(A)Any minimum wage established by the council shall, from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, inclusive, shall not be greater than twenty-two dollars ($22) per hour.(B)On January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the highest hourly minimum wage that may be established by the council shall increase by no more than the lesser of one of the following, rounded to the nearest ten cents ($0.10): (ii)The rate of change in the averages of the most recent July 1 to June 30, inclusive, period over the preceding July 1 to June 30, inclusive, period for the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics nonseasonally adjusted United States Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (U.S. CPI-W). (3)Standards promulgated by the council shall be subject to any suspension of increases in the statewide minimum wage made pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 1182.12.(4)Standards promulgated by the council shall not alter or amend the requirements in the California Retail Food Code (Part 7 (commencing with Section 113700) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code).(5)The council shall provide information as requested by the appropriate committees of the Legislature on labor to facilitate a review of the council's performance and standards under this section, which review may be conducted in a joint hearing held every three years or as otherwise designated by the appropriate committees of the Legislature on labor.(6)Nothing in this section shall be construed to give the council the authority to create or amend statutes.(7)Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the council to promulgate regulations creating new paid time off benefits, such as paid sick leave or paid vacation. For purposes of this paragraph, paid time off benefits do not include paid rest periods.(8)Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the council to promulgate regulations regarding predictable scheduling. Predictable scheduling does not include reporting time pay. The council may create a report containing a recommendation to the Legislature to enact laws regarding predictable scheduling.(e)To the extent that any minimum standards that the council finds are reasonably necessary to protect fast food restaurant employee health and safety fall within the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, the council is not authorized to promulgate the standards pursuant to Section 142.3, but rather shall petition the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of any occupational safety and health standard. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board shall consider and respond to the petition no later than six months following receipt of the petition in accordance with Section 142.2, or no later than three months, if the petition relates to an emergency as defined in Section 11342.545 of the Government Code. The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board shall not adopt a standard recommended by the council if it reduces occupational safety and health protections for employees.(f)The council shall conduct a full review of the adequacy of the minimum fast food restaurant health, safety, and employment standards at least once every three years. Upon that review, the council shall 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, or a portion of any such standard, as appropriate to meet the purposes of this section. Any change to existing regulations proposed by the council shall not be less protective of or less beneficial to health, safety, or fast food restaurant worker employment terms, conditions, or privileges, including wages, than the immediately preceding standard.(g)The council shall hold meetings or hearings no less than every six months that are open to the public, at which the public, including fast food restaurant employees, shall have the opportunity to be heard on issues of fast food restaurant health, safety, and employment conditions. The council shall provide advance public notice of these meetings or hearings that is reasonably calculated to advise fast food restaurant workers, franchisors, franchisees, community members, and other stakeholders of the opportunity to participate in the meetings or hearings. The location of the meetings or hearings shall rotate among major metropolitan areas throughout the state to provide fast food restaurant workers, franchisors, franchisees, community members, and other stakeholders throughout the state a reasonable opportunity to participate in a meeting or hearing at least once per each three-year review.(h)The council may coordinate with local agencies and authorize them to hold meetings or hearings that are open to the public, at which the public, including fast food restaurant employees, shall have the opportunity to be heard on issues of fast food restaurant health, safety, and employment conditions. After these meetings or hearings, the local agency shall prepare a report for the council that summarizes the information received at the public hearings or meetings and includes any recommendations for action by the council.(i)A county, or a city with a population of greater than 200,000, may establish a Local Fast Food Council, which shall be composed of at least one representative who is either a fast food restaurant franchisor or a fast food restaurant franchisee and at least one representative who is a fast food restaurant employee, and a majority of representatives from local employment, health, and safety agencies. A Local Fast Food Council established pursuant to this subdivision shall periodically hold meetings that are open to the public, at which the public, including fast food restaurant employees, shall have the opportunity to be heard on issues of local fast food restaurant health, safety, and employment conditions. A Local Fast Food Council may provide written recommendations to the council regarding minimum state health, safety, and employment standards, including training, that the Local Fast Food Council finds are reasonably necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of fast food restaurant workers. A Local Fast Food Council shall operate independently from the council.(j)All meetings of a Local Fast Food Council shall be subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).(k)(1)The minimum wages, maximum hours of work, and other working conditions fixed by the council in standards promulgated pursuant to subdivision (d) shall be the minimum wage, maximum hours of work, and the standard conditions of labor for fast food restaurant employees or a relevant subgroup of fast food restaurant employees for purposes of state law. Nothing in this section shall restrict local jurisdictions' exercise of police powers to establish more protective local standards. The employment of a fast food restaurant employee for lower wages or for longer hours than those fixed by the minimum standards promulgated by the council, or under any other working conditions prohibited by the minimum standards promulgated by the council, is unlawful. Compliance with the minimum fast food restaurant employment standards promulgated by the council shall be enforced by the commissioner and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement pursuant to the procedures and provisions set forth in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 79) of Division 1, Division 2 (commencing with Section 200), Division 3 (commending with Section 2700), and Division 5 (commencing with Section 6400), and according to any additional enforcement procedures and provisions that are set forth in standards, orders, or regulations promulgated by the council.(2)Other than occupational safety and health violations, which shall be enforced by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health under Division 5 (commencing with Section 6400), and other than discrimination, harassment, and related retaliation, which shall be enforced by the Civil Rights Department under Part 2.8 (commencing with 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the Labor Commissioner shall enforce this part, including investigating an alleged violation, and ordering appropriate temporary relief to mitigate the violation or to maintain the status quo pending the completion of a full investigation or hearing, through the procedures set forth in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 79) of Division 1 and Section 1197.1, including by issuance of a citation against an employer, fast food restaurant operator, fast food franchisee, fast food franchisor, or any other liable person under this part, and by filing a civil action. If a citation is issued, the procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations and civil penalties issued by the Labor Commissioner shall be the same as those set out in Section 98.74 or 1197.1, as appropriate. In any successful civil action to enforce this section by the Labor Commissioner or an employee, the court may grant injunctive relief in order to obtain compliance with this part, and shall award costs and reasonable attorney's fees.(3)A standard promulgated by the council pursuant to subdivision (d) shall not supersede a standard covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of the employees, and a regular hourly rate of pay not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage for those employees, if the agreement provides equivalent or greater protection than the standards established by the council and if state law on the same issue authorizes an exception for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a collective bargaining agreement to waive any occupational health and safety protections.(4)Nothing in this section shall be construed to require local health departments to enforce standards issued by the council.(l)In addition to the standards, rules, and regulations promulgated by the council pursuant to subdivision (d), the council is also authorized to issue any other rules, regulations, and guidance necessary for the enforcement of this part.(m)On January 1, 2029, subdivisions (a) to (j), inclusive, shall become inoperative, and the council shall cease operations.Repealed by Stats 2023 ch 262 (AB 1228),s 2, eff. Section 2 shall become operative and take effect commencing January 1, 2024, only if Referendum No. 1939 (Attorney General No. 22-0005) has been withdrawn by its proponents by January 1, 2024..Amended by Stats 2023 ch 131 (AB 1754),s 137, eff. 1/1/2024.Added by Stats 2022 ch 246 (AB 257),s 4, eff. 1/1/2023suspended pursuant to referendum petition. Effective only if Ch. 246 is approved as a referendum measure at the November 5, 2024, election.