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March 5, 2025
Minimum wage violations are rising sharply at fast food restaurants in Los Angeles and surrounding areas, according to a report by researchers at Northwestern University and Rutgers University. At least one in every four workers was illegally paid below the minimum wage in 2024, costing the average victim nearly $3,500 and totaling $44 million in lost wages annually across the region.
“When low-wage workers are underpaid by even a small percentage of their income, they face major hardships such as being unable to pay for rent, afford childcare or put food on the table,” said Daniel J. Galvin, director of the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University and the report’s lead author. “It’s more important than ever that fast food workers know their rights and how to exercise them.”
Daniel J. Galvin is a professor of political science and a faculty fellow and chair of the program on policy discourse and decision making at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.
The Workplace Justice Lab, a partnership between Rutgers, Northwestern and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California, is focused on strengthening labor standards enforcement in the U.S., studied the problem in depth. Researchers analyzed federal data for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the city and surrounding municipalities, to estimate minimum wage violations over a 15-year period.
The researchers found that violations steadily increased in all service-sector industries as the minimum wage climbed from $10 in 2016 to the current $16.50 statewide and $17.28 in Los Angeles. But violations increased more dramatically for fast food workers, whose minimum wage is now $20 statewide.
Findings from the report
- Last year, 25% of fast food workers in Greater Los Angeles were illegally paid below the minimum wage. That’s more than 8 times higher than the violation rate of 3% in 2009.
- An estimated 12,660 fast food workers in Greater Los Angeles experience wage theft annually, though most never come forward to complain.
- Each affected worker loses an average of $3,479 per year, or 16% of their income.
- Collectively, fast food workers in Greater Los Angeles lose $44 million
- These figures are underestimates due to data collection limitations, so the actual number of affected workers and lost income is likely much higher.
The report finds that the fast food industry has had a higher violation rate than every comparable industry for more than a decade. This could be due to the predominance of the franchise model, a low unionization rate, and a high-turnover workforce with many immigrants and younger workers who may not know their rights or may fear retaliation for speaking up, Galvin said.
Notes
Along with Galvin, the research team includes Jake Barnes, a researcher in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers and a third-year Ph.D. student focused on the enactment and enforcement of labor standards.
The Workplace Justice Lab is anchored by the Workplace Justice Lab @ Rutgers University and includes the Workplace Justice Lab @ Northwestern University and the Pilipino Workers Center of Southern California.
