An upscale restaurant partially owned by California Governor Gavin Newsom is offering new employees a starting salary of $16 an hour, online postings reveal, despite a new state law raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20.
PlumpJack Café, an Olympic Valley eatery owned by a company Newsom founded in 1992, is currently hiring a part-time busser to “assist the food server in the restaurant to ensure guest satisfaction during all aspects of the dining experience,” according to a ZipRecruiter listing for the position. The job board says that the employee will be paid $16 per hour (plus tips) to clear dishes from tables, refill beverages, and prepare coffee and espresso, among other tasks.
However, under the newly enacted Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act, interested restaurant workers can actually find a better deal working at a fast food chain like McDonald’s or Burger King.
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As Valuetainment previously reported, the new law required all fast food chains with 60 or more locations in the state of California (counted across individually owned franchises) to begin paying employees a minimum of $20 per hour as of April 1. The law extends beyond the fast food industry as well, encompassing any businesses that “feature ice cream, coffee, boba tea, pretzels, or donuts,” as well as those that provide sweets and drinks.
PlumpJack Café is not classified as a fast food restaurant, meaning that it is not subject to the new salary requirements. Restaurants that make and sell bread—including Panera Bread franchises owned by billionaire Newsom donor Greg Flynn—are similarly unaffected.
Newsom has no role in the day-to-day operations of the restaurant after putting PlumpJack Group, the café’s management company, into a blind trust after becoming governor in 2018.
But while the café is not legally required to increase pay, many have accused Newsom of hypocrisy for making local burger joints offer higher salaries than a fancy restaurant that serves $37 pasta dishes and $67 steaks—a move that has already led to mass layoffs less than a week after the law took effect.
Related: California Fast Food Chains Prepare for Mass Layoffs After $20 Minimum Wage Law
“I wonder why [Gov. Newsom’s] food businesses don’t pay $20/hour? Live job posting at $16/hr in Olympic Valley. It’s very, very expensive to live there… but he doesn’t do as he tells others and doesn’t pay a living wage,” Republican California Assemblyman Joe Patterson wrote in an X post.
I wonder why @CAgovernor @GavinNewsom’s food businesses don’t pay $20/hour? Live job posting at $16/hr in Olympic Valley. It’s very, very expensive to live there… but he doesn’t do as he tells others and doesn’t pay a living wage. https://t.co/hwppKvQgSY pic.twitter.com/JcVDF5PrsD
— Joe Patterson (@Patterdude) April 2, 2024
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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