Labor
Minimum Wage, Tipped and Exempt Employee Pay in 2021: A Rates-Only Update
JD Supra 11/20
Minimum wage laws can affect businesses of all sizes, whether operating nationwide, in multiple jurisdictions, or only in one state, county, or city. To help manage this challenge, below we provide a rates-only update that details scheduled state- and local-level wage increases throughout 2021 so employers can determine the minimum amount they must pay non-exempt, tipped, and certain exempt employees.
Don’t ‘expect Christmas this year’: Restaurant workers reeling from COVID-19 closures
Courier Journal 11/20
With dining rooms closed and outdoor seating unpopular due to cooler weather, the only solution for most restaurants is to cut their staff to original shutdown levels.
9th Circ. Mulls If Prop 22 Moots Uber, Postmates’ AB 5 Appeal
Law360 11/18
A Ninth Circuit panel questioned Wednesday whether Uber and Postmates are tilting at windmills by asking for an injunction blocking A.B. 5, a California law making it harder for workers to be classified as independent contractors, since Golden State voters just approved Proposition 22 exempting them from the law’s worker-classification test.
Food Industry Policy
East Bay Restaurants Struggle to Comply With Changing COVID Guidelines
NBC Bay Area 11/21
Restaurants in the East Bay are struggling to keep up and comply with COVID rules, and what makes it even more difficult is that those rules keep changing. Restaurants have had to pivot and secure outside dining tents, and Alameda County health officials want those outside tents to only have one wall to ensure circulation to help stop the spread of the virus.
Restaurants in California’s Curfew Counties Can Keep Serving Takeout After 10
Eater SF 11/20
Since then the full order has been released, so now we know exactly what is and isn’t allowed in California, under its new stay-at-home order.
To aid struggling restaurants, county to limit third-party delivery fees
Almanac News 11/19
Effective Nov. 17, that amount was capped at $15, based on a unanimous decision by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to implement a temporary emergency ordinance that restricts the fees that third party operators that coordinate food deliveries – like UberEats, DoorDash or Grubhub – can collect from restaurants.
On the Side
Don’t Cook at Home This Thanksgiving
San Diego Magazine 11/20
Thanksgiving is next week and I’m not going to do any dishes. I’m going to pick a small local restaurant that I love—one that seems to be struggling—and order as much as I’m financially able. I’m going to order enough for leftovers. I urge everyone who is able to do the same. Let’s try to order as much as we can from independent restaurants. They need as many orders as they can handle, and here’s why.
Hit food truck Malibu’s Burgers is ready to sling vegan smashburgers in a new Oakland restaurant
San Francisco Chronicle 11/20
Malibu’s Burgers, an Oakland food truck-turned-pop-up that’s exploded in popularity in less than a year, is slated to open as a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Dec. 5. It’s landing in a 1,000-square-foot space on Piedmont Avenue, one of the city’s most in-demand strips.
