Now, we have actual data about the impact of the law. The Shift Project took a comprehensive look at the impact that the new law had on California’s fast food industry between April 2024, when the law went into effect, and June 2024. The Shift Project specializes in surveying hourly workers working for large firms. As a result, it has “large samples of covered fast food workers in California as well as comparison workers in other states and in similar industries; and of having detailed measurement of wages, hours, staffing, and other channels of adjustment.”
Despite the dire warnings from the restaurant industry and some media reports, the Shift Project’s study did “not find evidence that employers turned to understaffing or reduced scheduled work hours to offset the increased labor costs.” Instead, “weekly work hours stayed about the same for California fast food workers, and levels of understaffing appeared to ease.” Further, there was “no evidence that wage increases were accompanied by a reduction in fringe benefits… such as health or dental insurance, paid sick time, or retirement benefits.”
Always the same play book: “It will kill the industry!”
And in the end nothing major changes except some numbers on a sheet.
How would the industry even under-staff further in the first place? They seem to try to run on skeleton crews wherever they can as is.
“But what’s a hamberder cost now? Like $45?”
In a “Europoor™” country where I am, I recently had a Mickey D’s. It was €13 for the meal deal.
Not cheap, but not ridiculous, and the workers got paid enough to survive.
What’s the cost of a burger, fries and 500ml (or whatever medieval equivalent) drink in the US, where the staff don’t get paid enough?
It varies by city and state.
A double cheeseburger meal with a medium drink (630ml) is $9.29 (€8.85) where I live. Starting pay is $13/hr (€12.28) but you have to be employed full time (40hrs/wk) to be given benefits like insurance coverage. That’s generally reserved for management positions.
Average rent for a one bedroom apartment is about $750, but a grocery bill is usually expensive because this is the middle of nowhere. So, it’s not a livable wage. You would need a roommate or two.
People don’t understand externalized costs
