Last-minute law aims to protect California restaurants from surcharge ban

Just weeks before the July 1 start of a statewide ban on so-called “hidden fees,” State Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) has proposed a new law to clarify how it applies to the restaurant industry. If passed, urgency measure Senate Bill 1524 would allow restaurants to continue to charge mandatory gratuities, service charges or other fees, so long as those fees are conspicuously displayed on restaurant menus. “This will enable restaurants to continue to support increased pay equity and to make contributions to worker health care and other employee benefits,” said...