California Minimum Wage Requirements

December 28, 2018

California has been one of a few states which has been slowing marching toward a state-wide $15 per hour minimum wage. This comes since the federal minimum wage has not seen an increase since July of 2009, leaving many employees, particularly in high cost of living states, in the dust if the state does not take corrective action. California continues to implement the plan to bridge California to the $15 minimum wage rate. 04As such, the state will continue to see significant increases to minimum wage over the next several years as can be seen below:

Date Employers with 25 or fewer employees Employers with 26 or more employees
January 1, 2019 $11.00 per hour $12.00 per hour
January 1, 2020 $12.00 per hour $13.00 per hour
January 1, 2021 $13.00 per hour $14.00 per hour
January 1, 2022 $14.00 per hour $15.00 per hour
January 1, 2023 $15.00 per hour

In addition, several California cities have implemented their own minimum wages which exceed the state minimum wage. Following is a listing of the city minimum wages for the state:

City Minimum Wage Notes
Belmont $13.50 n/a
Berkeley $15.00 n/a
Cupertino $15.00 n/a
El Cerrito $15.00 n/a
Emeryville (city and county) – businesses with 56 or more employees: $15.69 n/a
Emeryville (city and county) – businesses with 55 or fewer employees: $15.00 n/a
Los Altos $15.00 n/a
Los Angeles (city and county) – businesses with 26 or more employees: $13.25 $14.25 (July 1, 2019) and $15.00 (on July 1 2020)
Los Angeles (city and county) – businesses with 25 or fewer employees $12.00 $13.25 (July 1, 2019), $14.25 (July 1, 2020) and $15.00 (July 1, 2021)
Milpitas $13.50 n/a
Mountain View $15.65 n/a
Oakland $13.80 To be adjusted annually for inflation
Palo Alto $15.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
Pasadena – businesses with 26 or more employees $13.25 n/a
Pasadena – businesses with 25 or fewer employees $12.00 n/a
Redwood $13.50 n/a
Richmond $15.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
San Francisco $15.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
San Jose $15.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
San Leandro $13.00 n/a
San Mateo $15.00 $13.50 (non-profit organizations)
Santa Clara $15.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
Santa Monica – businesses with 26 or more employees $13.25 To be adjusted annually for inflation
Santa Monica – businesses with 25 or fewer employees $12.00 To be adjusted annually for inflation
Sunnyvale $15.65 n/a

As with all compliance postings, it is important to keep current on the laws and mandatory postings. All California companies must post the federal and state minimum wage notices, and cities must comply where appropriate. Failure to comply with the posting requirements could result in citations and fines and perhaps even loss of government contract business.

At the Labor Law Center, we know that as a business professional you are busy, and it is easy for laws to sneak by you. That is why our job is to do continual research to make sure that you are always compliant and have the most recent postings at your disposal. We also have numerous languages available as are required by law. You are just a phone call or a click away from having all of your postings ready for the new 2019 changes. You can visit us at https://www.laborlawcenter.com/california-labor-law-posters/ to place your order and to see what is required for your business. We offer printable posters, PDFs, high-quality laminated posters and electronic posters.