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  • Employment, Earnings, and Poverty in the Full-Service Restaurant Sector:

    August 15, 2022

    The Fair Labor Standards Act outlines the current tipping system in the United States, whereby customer-facing employees earning tips for their service are paid a required minimum base wage ($2.13 per hour at the federal level) in addition to the tips they earn. The gap between this base tipped wage and the regular federal minimum wage for non-tipped employees is…

  • Not So FAST: Analyzing Labor Law Compliance at California Fast Food Restaurants: Compiled from California Department of Industrial Relations data

    August 2, 2022

    A.B. 257, the “Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act,” would create a new regulatory scheme for California’s fast food restaurant industry (“limited-service restaurant” or LSR, to use Census terminology). This novel arrangement is ostensibly necessary because the limited-service restaurant industry is allegedly more prone to labor law violations than other industries. Yet a statement comparing working conditions in…

  • A Survey of US Economists on a $15 Federal Minimum Wage:

    April 27, 2022

    Across the nation, lawmakers continue to grapple with the viability and impact of increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The debate continues to be heated and some cities have already enacted increases they believe will benefit workers. While the impact of these increases is becoming more clear, recent surveys of businesses, franchises and other groups confirm that such…

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Blog Updates (See All)

    FAST Recovery Act “Research” Conducted By Union Organizers

    August 17, 2022•MinimumWage.com

    Email records recently acquired by the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) show that researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have been seemingly more interested in partnering with labor activists than doing objective research. UCLA’s Labor Center boasts about producing quality research that “lifts industry standards.” In fact, the Labor Center has been a…

    Study: FAST Recovery Act Unfairly Targets CA’s Fast-Food Industry

    August 12, 2022•MinimumWage.com

    Last week, the Employment Policies Institute released a report analyzing nearly a decade of California Department of Industrial Relations data on alleged labor law violations. The report’s findings show California’s fast-food restaurant industry accounts for far fewer wage claims than other industries. This directly refutes headlines based on an unscientific survey claiming fast-food restaurants were…

    Consumer Price Index Data Reveals High Wage Areas Are Experiencing Higher Inflation

    July 29, 2022•MinimumWage.com

    Inflation continues to rise to historic heights, and rapidly rising state minimum wages appear to be adding fuel to the fire. As employers feel the pinch of operating costs rising on many fronts, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows areas with steeper minimum wage mandates have higher inflation rates for food purchased in restaurants or take-out…

    Michigan’s One-Two Punch on Minimum Wage Hikes

    July 22, 2022•MinimumWage.com

    Michigan employees may still be affected by a minimum wage hike this year. This week, a Court of Claims judge ruled the state legislature did not have the authority to “adopt and amend” a ballot measure proposal in 2018, which would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $12 by 2022 and eliminated the state’s…

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