Posts tagged National Restaurant Association
CDW Supports Legislation Requiring More Transparency in Union Organizing Campaigns
April 17, 2025 // “Salting is an inherently deceptive practice that relies on misleading workers. Salts are hired by unions to seek employment with a company. They infiltrate the workplace, destabilize labor relations, and then push workers to unionize, all while never informing their colleagues that they are actually being paid by a union to persuade them. Employees should have a right to know the ‘coworker’ trying to persuade them to organize is being paid by the union.
CDW Leads Letter Supporting Crystal Carey Nomination
April 16, 2025 // The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) and the 20 undersigned organizations urge your support for the nomination of Crystal Carey to serve as the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Carey is well-qualified to serve and will be an asset to the Board in this role. We urge your support for her nomination.
Panera Bread exempt from California’s $20 minimum wage law after owner donated to Gov. Newsom: report
February 28, 2024 // But the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (FAST Act) includes an unusual carve-out that exempts “chains that bake bread and sell it as a standalone item,” according to Bloomberg News. Newsom reportedly sought the exemption, which benefits among others Greg Flynn, the billionaire CEO of Flynn Restaurant Group, the company that owns some two dozen Panera Bread locations in the state.
Franchisors may be more liable for employees under broadened joint employer rule
October 26, 2023 // The National Labor Relations Board just issued a final labor rule that broadens the joint employer rule to make companies jointly liable with their franchisees for labor terms and conditions such as union contracts, pay, scheduling, and more, reviving an Obama-era rule that was limited in scope during the Trump Administration. Moving forward, franchisors will likely need to become more involved in creating and enforcing workplace policies, something that previously was left mainly up to franchisees. According to the National Labor Relations Board, this is a legal course correction back to the way the joint employer rule originally worked. Related: Appeal of McDonald's joint employer settlement denied by Labor board “The Board’s new joint-employer standard reflects both a legally correct return to common-law principles and a practical approach to ensuring that the entities effectively exercising control over workers’ critical terms of employment respect their bargaining obligations under the NLRA,” NLRB chairman Lauren McFerran said in a statement. “While the final rule establishes a uniform joint-employer standard, the board will still conduct a fact-specific analysis on a case-by-case basis to determine whether two or more employers meet the standard.” Trade organizations and business groups have pushed back against the ruling, with the National Restaurant Association and Restaurant Law Center, stating that it will “create chaos and legal questions” across the industry, as restaurants with franchisees try to figure out how to change their operational policies to fit the new rule. Related: NLRB to rule on joint employer status by summer “Today’s final rule on joint employer is a heavy blow to small business restaurant operators,” Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for Public Affairs at the National Restaurant Association said in a statement, adding that almost one-third of the restaurant industry would be affected by this rule. “The rule upends employment policy, adopting a far-fetched definition of ‘employer’ based on ‘indirect or potential influence’ of an employee and then fails to define how ‘indirect control’ will count toward a joint employer relationship.” The previous rule, which was finalized by the Department of Labor under the Trump administration in Jan. 2020, adopted a four-part test for assessing whether a company is a joint employer of another company’s workers, like the franchisor-franchisee relationship. Previously, companies were given joint employer status if they exercised “direct and immediate control” over the key terms of another organization's employees, like a franchisee. Now, that definition has been expanded to companies jointly classified as "sharing or co-determining” employment terms (like pay, scheduling, workplace rules, etc.).
Chipotle testing robots to make bowls, salads
October 6, 2023 // Eventually, Namasivayam expects that a certain percentage of restaurants — maybe 30% — will continue to have human servers and be considered more luxurious, while the rest will lean more heavily on robots in the kitchen and in dining rooms. Economics are on the side of robots, he said; the cost of human labor will continue to rise, but technology costs will fall.
Opinion: Julie Su’s confirmation would harm restaurants and app workers
May 24, 2023 // If Su’s policy preferences took effect, U.S. restaurants — 90 percent of which are small businesses — would face considerable cost increases and job losses. And 23 million U.S. workers–parents, veterans, students, caregivers, and many others who have chosen to earn with app-based platforms — could have their earning power greatly curtailed. We simply cannot take that risk when our economy already faces serious challenges from inflation, supply chain problems, and workforce issues. We want to work with the next secretary of Labor to help restaurant owners and employees, app-based workers, and our customers thrive. That’s why the next secretary must have a track record of listening to diverse viewpoints and respecting the kind of opportunity and flexibility our industries provide.
Law to Increase Fast-Food Worker Wages Halted by Judge, Pitting Industry Groups Against Unions and State
January 2, 2023 // If the signature drive doesn't qualify for a referendum and the law moves forward, fast food wages could be raised as high as $22 an hour by the end of 2023. California's minimum wage for all workers is set to rise to $15.50 an hour starting Sunday. Chang, the judge, scheduled a hearing on the matter for January 13. She also wrote that restaurant groups have failed to prove they properly served the state with the lawsuit, and she ordered them to do so.
Considering California’s $22 Minimum Wage at the Federal Level
September 20, 2022 // The labor council created by California’s FAST Recovery Act will be responsible for setting employment standards for fast-food workers and have the authority to raise the minimum wage for these employees by 41 percent to $22 per hour. Such a dramatic increase in the minimum wage for fast-food workers would improve pay for those who are able to keep their positions, but would have negative impacts on employers, consumers, and workers who suffer job loss as a result. A national $22 minimum wage for fast-food workers would cause labor costs to rise by up to 35 percent, resulting in increased prices, layoffs, or some combination of both.
Senators Introduce Employee Rights Act of 2022
March 25, 2022 // The Employee Rights Act of 2022 is also co-sponsored by Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and Senators John Thune (R-South Dakota), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), John Boozman (R-Arkansas), Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin). Representative Rick Allen (R-Georgia) is introducing companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.