Minimum Wage On The Rise Again
Posted November 15, 2018

A few years back, on April 4, 2016, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 3 into law. This bill created ground-breaking legislation to increase California’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2022/2023 (an increase of 50%). These minimum wage increases occur incrementally.

For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will increase as follows:

YEAR	AMOUNT
January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019	$12.00
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020	$13.00
January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021	$14.00
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022	$15.00

For employers with 25 or fewer employees, and certain non-profit employers, the minimum wage will increase as follows:

YEAR	AMOUNT
January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019	$11.00
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020	$12.00
January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021	$13.00
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022	$14.00
January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023	$15.00

These minimum wage increases will also impact California’s exempt workers. Remember that the “salary basis test” requirement is directly tied to the minimum wage – an exempt employee must earn at least twice the minimum wage. Here is how that breaks down in terms of salary dollars:

• At $11.00 per hour, the salary basis will be $45,760 annually;
• At $12.00 per hour, the salary basis will be $49,920 annually;
• At $13.00 per hour, the salary basis will be $54,080 annually;
• At $14.00 per hour, the salary basis will be $58,240 annually; and,
• At $15.00 per hour, the salary basis will be $62,400 annually.

Also recall that other California cities and counties are considering (or have passed) similar wage hikes, including, among others (listed in alphabetical order): Belmont, Berkeley, Cupertino, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Los Altos, Los Angeles (city and county), Malibu, Milpitas, Mountain View, Oakland, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Redwood City, Richmond, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Monica and Sunnyvale (and the list continues to grow). In fact, on July 1, 2018, the minimum wage increased in ten of these areas (Belmont, Emeryville, Los Angeles (city and county), Malibu, Milpitas, Pasadena, San Francisco, San Leandro and Santa Monica). As such, employers are strongly advised to check the local wage rules (and local notice posting requirements) for each city or county in which they are located, as well as any city or county in which they do business.

If you have any questions about wage and hour compliance, or any other employment law matter, please call LightGabler at 805-248-7208.

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