Gov. Gavin Newsom’s marketing campaign donor says his Panera Bread eating places will comply with minimal wage regulation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A rich marketing campaign donor of California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated the Panera Bread eating places he owns will begin paying staff at the least $20 an hour on April 1 after controversy over whether or not a brand new state minimal wage regulation for quick meals staff applies to his companies.

California’s statewide minimal wage is $16 per hour. Newsom signed a law last year that claims quick meals eating places which can be a part of a sequence with at the least 60 places nationally should pay their staff at the least $20 per hour starting April 1. However the regulation doesn’t apply to eating places which have their very own bakeries to make and promote bread as a stand-alone menu merchandise.

That exception appeared to use to eating places like Panera Bread. Final week, Bloomberg Information reported that Newsom had pushed for such a carve-out to learn donor Greg Flynn, whose firm owns and operates 24 Panera Bread eating places in California.

The Democratic governor and Flynn denied the report, with Newsom calling it “absurd.” Newsom spokesperson Alex Stack stated the administration’s authorized crew analyzed the regulation “in response to latest information articles” and concluded Panera Bread eating places are possible not exempt as a result of the dough they use to make bread is combined off website.

Flynn has not stated whether or not he agrees with the Newsom administration’s interpretation. However on Tuesday, he introduced that the entire Panera Bread eating places his firm owns and operates can pay all hourly staff pre-tip wages of “$20 per hour or increased.”

“At Flynn Group, we’re within the individuals enterprise and consider our individuals are our Most worthy belongings,” Flynn stated. “Our objective is to draw and retain the very best crew members to ship the restaurant expertise our friends know and love.”

Flynn had beforehand stated the exemption has “little or no sensible worth” as a result of — even when Panera Bread eating places have been exempt — its rivals within the fast-food world weren’t exempt and Panera must pay comparable wages order to draw and retain staff.

He declined an interview request by means of a spokesperson.

There are 188 Panera Bread eating places in California. Panera Bread representatives declined to remark.

Chris Micheli, a California lobbyist and adjunct professor of regulation at McGeorge Faculty of Regulation, stated Flynn possible would have had an excellent case had he selected to problem the Newsom administration’s interpretation of the regulation. The regulation defines what a fast-food restaurant is, and says it isn’t an institution that “operates a bakery that produces on the market on the institution’s premises bread.”

The regulation goes on to say the exemption solely applies “the place the institution produces on the market bread as a stand-alone menu merchandise, and doesn’t apply if the bread is accessible on the market solely as a part of one other menu merchandise.”

“On its face it seems that it could be relevant, nevertheless a court docket might need to find out what’s included within the phrase ‘produce’ to ensure that the exemption to use,” Micheli stated.

As for which companies can be exempt from the regulation, Newsom’s workplace stated the newly created Quick Meals Council “could develop rules and the Labor Commissioner has enforcement authority over particular person claims based mostly on the information of particular person instances.”

“In the end, the courts could need to make the ultimate ruling,” stated Alex Stack, Newsom’s spokesperson.

Final week, Flynn denied asking for an exemption or “particular concerns.” He stated he did take part in a bunch assembly with a few of Newsom’s workers and different restaurant house owners. He stated if the intent of the invoice was to deal with labor code violations within the fast-food business, he urged the invoice make a distinction between fast-food eating places and “fast-casual eating places.”

In an interview with KNBC in Los Angeles earlier this week, Newsom stated negotiations concerning the regulation included “some discussions round bakeries and this and that,” however he stated these talks have been solely “because it pertains to the carve-outs and the small print that have been achieved with this deep coalition” that included labor unions and fast-food business representatives.

The political results of the problem may linger whether or not the allegations are true or not, stated Kevin Liao, a California-based Democratic political guide. Whereas Flynn now will not profit from the exemption within the regulation, that possible will not deter Newsom’s opponents from utilizing the allegations in opposition to him.

“Anybody who desires to take a shot at Newsom will use this. That is simply politics,” Liao stated. “When you have got somebody who many assume has nationwide aspirations, they will choose at any scab that exists and attempt to exploit it.”