Double Pay for Thanksgiving Could Become California Law

The California Assembly passed bill on Wednesday that would require double-time pay for employees working in retail and grocery stores on Thanksgiving Day.

The bill, which passed 41-30, must now go to the state Senate for final approval.

AB 67, colloquially referred to as the “Double Pay on the Holiday Act,” was introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego). It had previously sought to gain double pay for employees working for employers with at least 25 employees. The amended version of the bill would require the doubling of salaries on Thanksgiving for employers with 500 or more employees.

“We’re talking about a day where traditionally in our country we have placed an incredibly high value on the ability to gather with your family,” Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla (D-Concord) said, according to the Sacramento Bee. Often, retailers will first ask employees with no family commitments to work on Thanksgiving Day.

According to the Sacramento Business Journal, Gonzalez said her bill is an attempt to force employers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and K-Mart to follow an industry standard of doubling compensation for holiday work.

The original version of the bill had also sought to include employees who are “employed as a first responder or emergency personnel,” but struck that from the new version.

The bill reportedly faced opposition from major business groups like the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Retailers Association. The Bee notes that Republican lawmakers said it would unfairly burden businesses.

Breitbart News previously reported that Walmart was forced to close down a store in Los Angeles last month over the recently passed $15 minimum wage ordinance. This particular Walmart was located in the heart of Chinatown and is home to immigrant Hispanic and Asian residents who had both fought for years to bring the establishment in, and had also benefited greatly from its highly-competitive prices.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.