California’s Assembly Bill 1228 set a $20.00 per hour minimum wage for workers at large fast-food chains, effective April 1, 2024.1Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Council The law added Sections 1474 through 1477 to the California Labor Code and created the Fast Food Council, a state body with authority to raise that wage once a year and set working-condition standards for the industry.2California Legislative Information. California Labor Code Part 4.5.5 – Fast Food If you work at a covered restaurant and your paycheck says less than $20 an hour, the sections below explain how to tell whether the law applies to you and what to do about it.
Which Restaurants Are Covered
The law reaches limited-service restaurants that belong to a chain with more than 60 locations nationwide. Every location under the same brand counts, whether corporate-owned or franchised, and chains qualify if their locations share a common brand or use standardized menus, decor, marketing, and packaging.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
“Limited-service” is the key label. It covers restaurants where customers order and pay before eating, with little or no table service. Both quick-service and fast-casual formats fit, so a burger drive-through and a build-your-own salad chain can both be covered. A full-service, sit-down restaurant is not, even with hundreds of locations.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
One detail worth reading closely: the statute says “more than 60” locations, not “60 or more.” A chain with exactly 60 restaurants isn’t covered. A chain with 61 is.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
Restaurants That Are Exempt
A restaurant can meet the chain-size and limited-service tests and still fall outside the law through one of several carve-outs written into Section 1474.
On-Site Bakeries
A restaurant that operates an on-site bakery producing and selling bread as a standalone menu item is exempt, provided it was already doing so on September 15, 2023. The bread must qualify under the federal regulatory definition of bread, and it has to be sold on its own rather than only as part of a sandwich or combo meal.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
Restaurants Inside Grocery Stores
A fast-food counter inside a grocery store is exempt, but only if the grocery store itself employs the workers. If the restaurant is a separate franchise leasing space inside a grocery store, the exemption doesn’t apply.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
Restaurants in Specific Venues
Restaurants in certain venues are excluded no matter who employs the workers:
- Airports (excluding military bases and federally operated facilities)
- Hotels
- Theme parks
- Museums
- Gambling establishments
- Large event centers meeting specific size or seating requirements
Workers in these venues often operate under different employment arrangements or collective bargaining agreements.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1474 – Fast Food
What the $20 Rate Actually Means for Your Paycheck
Every covered fast-food employee in California must earn at least $20.00 per hour. That rate functions as the state minimum wage for these workers for all purposes under the Labor Code.1Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Council As of mid-2026, the Fast Food Council has not voted to raise it, so $20.00 remains the floor.4Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions For comparison, California’s general minimum wage rose to $16.90 per hour on January 1, 2026, so covered fast-food workers earn $3.10 more per hour than the state baseline.5California Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 Per Hour on January 1, 2026
Overtime and Double-Time
California’s daily overtime rules make the $20 base matter even more than the number suggests. Non-exempt employees earn time-and-a-half, or $30.00 per hour at a $20 base, for hours beyond eight in a workday or 40 in a workweek, and for the first eight hours on a seventh consecutive workday. Double-time pay of $40.00 per hour kicks in after 12 hours in a single day, or after eight hours on that seventh consecutive day. A long weekend shift can be worth substantially more than the base rate implies.
The Salary Threshold for Exempt Managers
California requires exempt employees, the ones who don’t receive overtime, to earn at least twice the applicable minimum wage for full-time work. For most California workers in 2026, that produces an annual salary floor of at least $70,304 based on the $16.90 general minimum.5California Department of Industrial Relations. California’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase to $16.90 Per Hour on January 1, 2026 For managers at covered fast-food restaurants, the math starts from the $20.00 industry rate: $20.00 × 2 × 40 hours × 52 weeks = $83,200 per year. A fast-food manager classified as exempt who earns less than $83,200 annually is likely misclassified, which exposes the employer to back-overtime claims.
Future Raises and the Fast Food Council
Beginning January 1, 2025, the Fast Food Council gained authority to raise the fast-food minimum wage once a year. Any increase is capped at the lesser of 3.5% or the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). A maximum 3.5% bump would push the wage to roughly $20.70; a lower CPI-W figure would produce a smaller cap.4Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
The Council sits within the Department of Industrial Relations and has nine voting members balanced between industry and worker representatives, with an unaffiliated public chair. Its authority runs until January 1, 2029, unless the legislature extends it. While the Council exists, California cities and counties cannot enact their own minimum wage ordinances specifically targeting covered fast-food workers, though general local minimum wages that apply to all employers are still allowed.6California Legislative Information. AB-1228 Fast Food Restaurant Industry: Fast Food Council: Health, Safety, Employment, and Minimum Wage
Protection From Retaliation
Section 1476 makes it illegal for a fast-food employer to fire, discipline, or otherwise retaliate against an employee for participating in or providing testimony to any Council proceeding. The Council is treated as a government agency for whistleblower-protection purposes, so the same anti-retaliation rules that protect employees reporting violations to government agencies apply here.7California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1476 – Fast Food
What to Do If You’re Being Paid Less Than $20
If you work at a covered restaurant and your pay is below $20.00 per hour, you have three main options for recovering the difference. The employer bears the burden of proving that it isn’t covered by the law.4Department of Industrial Relations. Fast Food Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions
- File an individual wage claim with the Labor Commissioner’s Wage Claim Adjudication Unit online, by email, by mail, or in person. The office investigates, holds a settlement conference, and schedules a hearing if the claim doesn’t resolve.
- File a Report of Labor Law Violation with the Labor Commissioner’s Bureau of Field Enforcement, which can investigate and cite the employer directly rather than routing recovery through an individual claim.
- File a private lawsuit in court, or pursue arbitration if your employment agreement requires it.
The deadline for filing a minimum wage claim is three years from the date of the underpayment.8Department of Industrial Relations. Labor Commissioner’s Office – How to File a Wage Claim Employers who pay below the minimum face civil penalties of $50 per underpaid employee per pay period for a first violation and $100 per employee per pay period for repeat violations, on top of owing the back wages and potential liquidated damages.