New Minimum Wage in California Not as Good as it Seems

There is a new minimum wage for fast food workers in California, and it went into effect at the beginning of the month. Fast food workers now will make no less than $20 an hour in the Golden State, and it has many of the employees excited to see a pay increase. It is always worth celebrating when more money is added to your paycheck and nobody is faulting these workers for being excited.

While the new minimum wage seems like a good thing, it is not as nice as it seems and is going to cause more harm than good in the long run. It is going to hurt the state, as well as the rest of the county.

New Minimum Wage in California is a Bad Thing

The new minimum wage for fast food workers has employees excited, but unfortunately, it is everyone else who is paying the price. Fast food chains are having to make adjustments, and the customers are now suffering because of this pay increase. MOD Pizza closed multiple locations in California days before the new law took effect, with many speculating it was due to being unable to pay employees their desired wage. Other places such as Burger King and In-N-Out are having to increase their prices, to make up for paying employees more. If this trend continues, there will likely be more price increases across other fast food chains, and more stores could close as well, not only in California, but nationwide. 

The Effects of New Minimum Wage

MOD Pizza will likely not be the last store to close locations because of this new rule, and the restaurants above will likely not be the only ones to increase their prices. With having to pay employees so much, chains are having to readjust to make a profit, and it has many complaining after less than a month. MOD may have closed locations in California, but they also closed 22 other locations nationwide. Who could be next to follow? This new minimum wage has grabbed national headlines, and other fast food employees in other states have taken notice, and likely will soon demand more money as well. Could this be the start of a trickle effect that leads to some of America's favorite fast-food restaurants closing more and more locations or being forced to shut down or raise prices to pay their employees? 

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While employees wanting more money is nothing new, and congratulations to those who were able to get more, the effects are being felt by everyone else now. Who knows how this will ultimately affect and change things for these fast food chains moving forward, but if MOD Pizza closing locations is any sign, it likely isn't going to go well. These employees might be getting paid more, but they could soon be out of a job as well, due to the new raise in minimum wage.