The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-2 on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to extend the city's Fair Work Week scheduling rules to fast-food workers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The vote moves the city closer to requiring fast-food employers to give workers their schedules at least two weeks in advance and provide at least 10 hours of rest between shifts. The proposal also establishes an annual six-hour paid "Know Your Rights" training covering wage and hour laws, meal and rest breaks, worker misclassification and protections under the California Fast Food Council.
The vote directs the city attorney to draft ordinance language. Both the scheduling ordinance and the training framework must return to the full Council for a final vote before taking effect.
Councilmembers John Lee and Traci Park cast the two opposing votes. Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, who first introduced the proposal in 2024 alongside Councilman Curren Price, said the training component was essential.
"We can pass strong labor laws, but if the workers don't know what those laws mean, then we're not really doing our job as a city," Soto-Martínez said after the vote.
Under an amendment the Council approved, businesses operating more than one franchise location would need to comply by April 2027. Single-location operators would have until October 2027.
Workers describe unstable hours
Blanca Romero, a McDonald's employee in Los Angeles for nine years, told the Council during public comment that longtime workers like her often have their hours cut even as the business hires additional people. Silvia Galvez, a Yum Yum Donuts worker and California Fast Food Workers Union member, also spoke in support.
Research cited by Soto-Martínez's office found about 91% of California fast-food workers have experienced at least one labor violation and 88% do not know their workplace rights, according to studies from Harvard, Northwestern University, UCLA and UC Berkeley.
Restaurant owners push back
Restaurant owners who testified warned the rules would pile costs onto businesses already squeezed by California's $20-per-hour fast-food minimum wage.
Jason Hendifar of Waldorf Restaurant Group, which operates Burger King and El Pollo Loco franchise locations in Los Angeles, told the Council only half of his 10 restaurants are profitable. The rest break even or lose money.
The California Restaurant Association argued in a letter to the Council that the ordinance would create duplicative requirements. The association also raised concerns that mandatory training sessions run by third-party groups could be used to prime workers for union campaigns and would expose workers' personal data amid heightened fears of immigration enforcement.
The association's letter cited more than 1,150 restaurant closures across Los Angeles since the $20 minimum wage took effect. Oxford Economics estimated the ordinance would cost each restaurant an additional $48,312 to $96,624 per year, according to the industry group Protect LA Restaurants.
Councilmember Adrin Nazarian introduced a separate amendment, also approved, recommending the city attorney assess potential legal liabilities tied to mandating in-person training.
Labor groups backing the measure include Starbucks Workers United, the California Fast Food Workers Union, the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance and Unite Here Local 11.
No date has been set for the final Council vote.
