California Employment News: Overview of the Fast Food Minimum Wage Increase AB122
#WorkforceWednesday: The Union-Friendly Biden NLRB, California's FAST Act, and Pay Transparency in California - Employment Law This Week®
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has published a final rule regarding the Standard for Determining Joint-Employer Status under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). This significant development clarifies how two...more
In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more
It’s been a busy spring at the California state capitol. Among the few thousand bills being considered by California’s legislature this year, AB 1228 stands out. The bill would essentially create joint liability for...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 20-13561 (11th Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) – In October 2018, a former line cook of a Burger King franchise restaurant in Illinois, filed a class action complaint in the District Court...more
The Act has the potential to significantly increase wages for restaurant employees and to impose work scheduling limitations on restaurant companies. Key Points: ..Restaurant companies that are part of a chain with...more
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held that an antitrust challenge to a “hiring restriction [that] prevented” plaintiff employees “from taking a better-paying position with a...more
On June 3, 2021, AB-257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act (the “FAST Act”) was defeated in the California Assembly, coming up three votes short of the 41 votes needed. The FAST Act would have...more
Home speaker maker Sonos has sued Google, accusing the company of “infringing on five of its patents, including technology that lets wireless speakers connect and synchronize with one another.” Sonos had originally partnered...more
On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) ordered an administrative law judge to approve a settlement previously reached between McDonald’s, its franchisees, and workers. Although...more
In an important wage-and-hour decision for franchisors, Salazar, et al. v. the McDonald’s Corp., et al., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employees of one of the hamburger giant’s California-based franchisees...more
On May 17, 2019, Judge Renee Marie Bumb of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey rejected the parties’ request to dismiss a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) lawsuit without the Judge’s review of the...more
‘No-poach’ agreements between businesses not to compete with each other for employees have long been held unlawful under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits certain restraints on trade and competition....more
On July 17, 2018, a National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) rejected a proposed settlement that would have concluded the closely-watched consolidated unfair labor practice case against...more
Attorneys general in ten states and the District of Columbia have recently launched an investigation into the employment practices of eight fast-food franchises. The group sent a joint letter to the companies requesting...more
Regular readers know that a good part of my practice deals with the use of “post-employment restrictions” to prevent former employees from using, selling or distributing a company’s most valuable assets – its intellectual...more
In order to avoid a lawsuit by the Washington State Attorney General, seven fast-food chains with store locations nationwide agreed to no longer enforce “no-poach/no-hire” provisions in their franchise agreements and to...more
We reported last week that the attorneys generals of ten states are investigating several fast food franchisors for their use of so-called “no poach” provisions in their franchise agreements. ...more
The Attorneys General of ten states are investigating fast food franchisors for their alleged use of “no poach” provisions in their franchise agreements, according to a press release by the New Jersey Attorney General’s...more
Franchise agreements often contain provisions prohibiting the franchisee from soliciting or hiring workers employed by the franchisor or other franchisees. Such “anti-poaching” agreements have recently come under increased...more
Agreements among companies to not hire each other’s workers are more risky than ever. The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, stated on January 19 that the division has criminal cases...more
The new General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (“Labor Board”), Peter Robb, continues to reshape the agency with his vision. Consistent with his January 2018 promise to consider “settlements of any kind that...more
On March 19, 2018, McDonald’s reached a proposed settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”) to resolve the outstanding litigation concerning alleged labor law violations by McDonald’s franchisees. ...more
The National Labor Relations Board and various union-backed organizations are ratcheting up efforts aimed at changing the landscape of who qualifies as a joint employer. Right now, these aggressive efforts are most pronounced...more
Sandwich chain Jimmy John's has been in the news lately because of non-compete agreements that employees of its franchisees sign. This is not necessarily good news for Jimmy John's, but it does underscore some interesting...more
A looming surge of cases threatens to expand the joint employment doctrine and fundamentally alter the operations of franchisors, retailers, and businesses utilizing independent contractors within the four walls of their...more