When fast food restaurants across California have to start paying workers $20 per hour on April 1, one major chain will be exempted from the mandate�

Why Is Panera Exempted From California's New Minimum Wage Law?

submited by

Style Pass

2024-02-28 20:00:48

When fast food restaurants across California have to start paying workers $20 per hour on April 1, one major chain will be exempted from the mandate—and it just so happens to have a connection to a longtime friend and donor to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Panera Bread is poised to get a boost from a bizarre clause in the fast-food minimum wage law that exempts "chains that bake bread and sell it as a standalone item," Bloomberg reports, adding that "Newsom pushed for that break, according to people familiar with the matter."

That exemption stands to benefit Greg Flynn, owner and CEO of the Flynn Restaurant Group, a conglomerate that operates more than 2,300 restaurants nationally and is the second-largest Panera franchisee in the world, according to the company's website. Flynn and Newsom go way back: Bloomberg reports that the two attended the same high school at the same time—Flynn was student body president during Newsom's freshman year—and the restauranteur has donated to Newsom's gubernatorial campaigns and bragged to colleagues about his close relationship with the governor.

That relationship likely explains the weird carve-out that would exempt bakeries from the new minimum wage law, even though no one involved is willing to admit as much.