On January 1, 2024, California’s statewide minimum wage rate increased to $16 per hour. Alongside this hike to the minimum wage, the base salary requirement for California employees exempt under the administrative, professional, and executive exemptions increased to an annualized salary of $66,560. While newsworthy, California’s statewide minimum wage is really only a baseline, as many localities in California have passed ordinances which require employers to pay employees a higher minimum wage. Accordingly, California employers must keep track not only of statewide minimum wage requirements, but also of any local measures which may impact their employees’ required rate of pay, and pay the higher of the state or applicable local minimum wage (if any). Fortunately, the California Department of Industrial Relations has recently added to its “Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions” webpage a link to the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s “Inventory of U.S. City and County Minimum Wage Ordinances” webpage. There, the Labor Center shares a list of California city and county minimum wage rates, which was updated as recently as July 1, 2024. Employers may review the list of California city and county minimum wage rates for updates, particularly when they expand into new geographical areas of the state, or around January 1 and July 1, when many rates are updated. New or different local minimum wage ordinances may be passed into law at any time. In addition, California employers should keep in mind that there is a special minimum wage for fast food workers that went into effect on April 1, 2024, and there will soon be a higher health care worker minimum wage as well. Conclusion If you have any questions about minimum wage or other employment law requirements, feel free to contact the authors of this EAC Update or your own employment attorney. Reprinted with permission from AALRR |
