How Having the CEO of Carl's Jr. as Secretary of Labor Might Affect Women

Donald Trump is reportedly tapping Andrew Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurants — the parent company of a number of fast food establishments, including Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., as secretary of labor.

Carl’s Jr. has garnered a great amount of attention over the past few years, not because of their food but because of their ads featuring scantily-clad women in scenarios frequently described as sexist, objectifying, and offensive.

In 2005, Paris Hilton kicked off the brand’s unique advertising campaign with a commercial in which she washed a Bentley in a bathing suit and heels — and ate a burger. The company has followed suit with a similarly themed ad every year since. (Hilton went on to reprise her performance for the brand in 2014.) Other notable ads include the 2009 spot in which Audrina Patridge wore a bikini on a beach — and ate a burger — and a 2012 one in which Kate Upton rolled around sweating and removing clothing in the back seat of a car at a drive-in movie — and ate a burger. This summer, Carl’s Jr. released a “director’s cut” version of an ad for its “Bacon 3-Way Burger” featuring a trio of women in bikinis, who are heavily implied to be having a three-way themselves. While eating burgers.

In a 2015 interview, Puzder said he isn’t worried about complaints about the content of the ads. In fact, he said, if the company doesn’t receive complaints about its ads, “I go to the head of marketing and say, ‘What’s wrong with our ads?’” He added: “I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American. I used to hear, brands take on the personality of the CEO. And I rarely thought that was true, but I think this one, in this case, it kind of did take on my personality.”

This summer, Puzder told a Fox Business interview that the chance to serve in Trump’s Cabinet would be “the most fun you could have with clothes on.”

As secretary of labor, it seems as if Puzder might be focused on the federal minimum wage, but he is opposed to that, believing instead that minimum wage standards should be set on a state-by-state basis. He has also been outspoken about his belief that minimum wage increases will result in the elimination of low-wage workers’ jobs, with the people in such jobs — and fast food workers specifically — being replaced with computers.

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, the current federal minimum wage does not translate to a living wage — the amount needed to provide food and housing for a couple and their dependents — in any state in the country. The living wage, as calculated for 2015 for a household of two working adults with two children, is $15.25 an hour, more than double the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Women would especially be affected by any changes to minimum wage standards that Puzder could make as labor secretary, since women currently hold two-thirds of all minimum wage jobs in the U.S. Thirty percent of all women in the U.S. workforce — and 37 percent of women of color, as well as 40 percent of working single mothers — would get a raise if the federal minimum wage were to increase. Presently, a woman working full-time earning the federal minimum wage would earn $14,500 annually, an amount that is $4,500 below the federal poverty line for a mother supporting two children.

But the secretary of labor can have an impact on the state of women in America on more than just wage issues.

The Department of Labor will play a crucial role in determining the future of paid family leave, with the secretary having the ability to determine whether people get time off, or how much time off they receive, when they become parents or need to care for children or aging parents. Thus far, President-elect Trump has voiced his support for paid maternity leave for biological mothers, but he has not supported paid family leave for all parents or for Americans in the workforce who may need leave to care for their families under circumstances other than birth.

The secretary of labor also plays a critical role in determining the policies that can prohibit discrimination by employers against pregnant employees and job applicants — or could effectively eliminate such protections altogether. The labor secretary specifically has the ability to advise on the kinds of leave policies for pregnant women that should be supported by the incoming Trump administration as well as whether the administration should support policies that provide accommodations for mothers who are breastfeeding.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), known colloquially as Obamacare, revised a section of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to provide employees with reasonable breaks to pump breast milk for up to one year after a woman gives birth. It also clarified that employers are required to give women a place other than a bathroom to pump and that such a place needs to be private and “free of intrusion by co-workers and the public.” Puzder is a vocal opponent of the Affordable Care Act; if the act were to be repealed, this provision could be at risk at his discretion.

Kaylie Hanson Long, national communications director for NARAL Pro-Choice America, points out to Yahoo Beauty that Puzder’s appointment also would affect women’s reproductive rights, saying: “At its core, reproductive freedom is an economic issue, and the secretary of labor can impact it in many ways. We think any secretary of labor should take steps to protect and empower working women and families by prioritizing strong paid parental leave policies and by strengthening and enforcing policies that protect pregnant employees and job applicants from discrimination. But given Donald Trump’s record of disparaging and belittling working women, we’re not holding our breath for progress in his administration. That’s why we at NARAL will stay vigilant and shine a light on every effort his administration makes to roll back our hard-fought rights and freedom. Trump has laughed off accusations of sexual harassment, called a woman “disgusting” for breastfeeding at work, and made it clear that he thinks mothers belong in the home, not in the workplace. The reproductive freedom and equality of women across the nation depend on policies that make it easier for women to work and raise a family, so we will be keenly watching to see whether Andrew Puzder makes women a priority as secretary of labor.”

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