Abstract
This research brief uses survey data to examine underlying rates of wage theft in the fast food industry in greater Los Angeles. We find that a growing number of fast food workers are experiencing minimum wage violations; a higher share of fast food workers suffer this form of wage theft than workers in comparable industries; and the losses fast food workers incur are significant (16% of their income). With 88 percent of fast food workers lacking full knowledge of basic workplace rights, these findings underscore the need for mandatory third-party “know your rights” trainings as recently proposed to the Los Angeles City Council.