A California McDonald's franchisee says fast food would be 'unaffordable' if she raised prices enough to cover the new $20 minimum wage

• A McDonald's franchisee says its food would be "unaffordable" if it raised prices to offset California's $20 minimum wage.
• "You can't raise prices enough," the Los Angeles franchisee told KTLA 5 News.
• From April, California's minimum wage for fast-food workers will be 25% higher than its general minimum wage.

A McDonald's franchisee in Los Angeles says that if she wanted to raise her prices to fully offset California's incoming $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers, her burgers and fries would be "unaffordable."

Kerri Harper-Howie, who owns 21 McDonald's restaurants in California with her sister, told KTLA 5 News that she'll be taking a profit hit from the new legislation.

Putting up menu prices is "not the only thing that we're doing because the truth of the matter is, you can't raise prices enough," she said. "It would be unaffordable."

"There are cost savings that we can do behind the scenes, and other ways to be more efficient … but this means less profitability for us, and we will absorb that," Harper-Howie continued. "We will take less."

Minimum wages for fast-food workers in California are going up to $20 an hour from April 1 — 25% more than the state's current minimum wage, and with the ability for a Fast Food Council to raise it by up to 3.5% each year, depending on inflation.

The legislation — especially in its original form, which would have allowed for a 2023 minimum wage of up to $22 — has faced backlash from fast-food giants, who say it would force them to put up prices or face a profit hit.

A Fatburger franchisee in California previously told Business Insider that he was cutting workers' hours, scrapping employee vacation, and raising menu prices by about 8 to 10% at his four restaurants to offset the impacts of the legislation.

Analysts say the price hikes could put some diners off fast food. But they also note that it's expected to drive up wages for staff in other hourly occupations, like retail workers — which, in turn, would give them more disposable income to spend on fast food.

Both company-owned restaurants and franchisees have to raise wages

The new bill applies to limited-service restaurant chains with at least 60 restaurants nationally.

Fast-food chains often stress the nature of their franchisees as small business owners, but the new minimum wage will apply to both corporate-owned restaurants and franchisees, regardless of how many restaurants they individually own.

Harper-Howie told KTLA 5 News that her parents became McDonald's franchisees in the 1980s when they cashed in their retirement savings to buy a restaurant in Inglewood.

After starting her career as an employment lawyer in Los Angeles, Harper-Howie ended up taking over the family business with her sister after having her first son, the local news station reported.

The restaurants owned by Harper-Howie and her sister reportedly employ more than 1,000 workers. Many of their restaurants are located in lower-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles such as Inglewood and Compton, per the report.

Harper-Howie questioned why the new minimum wage only applied to the fast-food industry if the current rate "is not adequate for people to live."

"Who then are the customers that are going to be able to afford to pay for the food?" she asked.