Oakland, California, recently announced that on January 1, 2017, workers will receive a minimum wage increase of 31 cents, bringing the new minimum wage to $12.86 per hour. The City of Oakland annually reviews the city’s minimum wage and adjusts it based upon the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers for San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose metropolitan areas. The CPI from August 2015 to August 2016 increased approximately 2.5% resulting in the 31-cent increase to minimum wage. Employers who fail to comply with the new minimum wage can be fined up to $1,000 per violation.
Oakland is just one of many cities and states implementing minimum wage increases in 2017.
Who Is Impacted?
All employees who work at least two hours in a particular workweek within the geographic limits of the City of Oakland are subject to the new minimum wage.
What must employers do?
While the minimum wage does not become effective until January 1, 2017, employers must provide notice to all employees by December 15, 2016.
Employers will obviously want to look at the wages of all workers and be prepared to make adjustments, where necessary, by the effective date. Additionally, Oakland requires that a labor notice must be displayed in the workplace where all employees frequent and are able to see.
All other labor laws for Oakland will remain the same for 2017. The city of Oakland has three mandatory posting requirements:
Oakland Minimum Wage (current posting dated 1/1/17)
Oakland Paid Sick Leave (current posting dated 3/2/15)
Oakland Service Charge Law (current posting dated 3/2/15)
Now is a good time for employers to ensure that they are fully compliant in their labor law posting requirements. All employers must display specific federal and state posting requirements in addition to the Oakland city requirements. The updated Oakland notice, as well as the California all-in-one labor law poster is available through The Labor Law Center and comes with a guarantee of full compliance to your posting requirements. Plan ahead, and be prepared for the December 15th notification and all 2017 posting requirements.
