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A state judge Friday put on hold a California law that could raise minimum wages for fast-food workers until a hearing can determine whether it should take effect next month.
Save Local Restaurants, a group of franchisee and restaurant business associations, filed suit Thursday against the state’s Department of Industrial Relations challenging its intention to implement the law Jan. 1.
The group submitted a petition in early December for a 2024 ballot measure that would overturn the law. The secretary of state’s office is currently determining whether the petition has about 623,000 valid signatures, in which case the law’s implementation would be postponed until the ballot measure vote.
In its lawsuit, Save Local Restaurants asked the court to block the state from beginning to implement the law until the secretary of state’s office finishes the petition validation process.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang granted a temporary restraining order for the implementation of the new law, writing that the court couldn’t consider the matter in such a short time frame.
The court is set to hold a hearing on the injunction on Jan. 13.
“While this pause is temporary, the impact is beyond just one piece of legislation and keeps intact for the time being California’s century-old referendum process,” the Save Local Restaurants coalition said in a statement.
Erin Mellon, a spokeswoman for Gov.
Gavin Newsom,
said the secretary of state hasn’t certified that the industry coalition has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot and it has an obligation to implement the law unless that occurs. The state, however, will abide by Friday’s court order, she said.
The California law, known as the Fast Recovery Act, is the first of its kind in the U.S. and has emerged as a high-stake battle between organized labor and fast-food chains and operators.
Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, signed the law in September. It creates a 10-person government-appointed council made up of workers, employers, union representatives and business advocates that could set the minimum wage for the fast-food industry as high as $22 an hour next year and establish new workplace standards.
The established minimum wage would then increase annually based on inflation. Currently California’s minimum wage is $15 an hour, and is set to rise to $15.50 in 2023.
The restaurant group said in early December that it had submitted a petition with more than one million voter signatures to require Californians to vote on the measure in 2024. Coalition supporters had expected their submission of the signatures would freeze the law.
Write to Heather Haddon at heather.haddon@wsj.com
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Appeared in the December 31, 2022, print edition as ‘California Judge Puts Hold on Fast-Food Wage Law.’
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