It’s that time of year again—the temperatures are high, summer vacations are winding down, and Sacramento has taken the minimum wage up another notch.
Beginning January 1, 2027, California’s statewide minimum wage will increase from $16.90 to $17.40 per hour. Importantly, the 50-cent bump has implications even for employers with no minimum wage workers because it also raises the salary threshold required for exempt employees.
It’s that time of year again – when California’s cities and counties ratchet up the minimum wage! Effective July 1, 2026, several jurisdictions increased their local minimum wage rates by approximately 1.6% to as much as 3.7%. Each of the new local rates exceeds California’s current statewide minimum wage of $16.90 per hour.
The following Southern California jurisdictions implemented increases:
Effective July 1, 2026, the minimum wage rate for the Los Angeles metropolitan area will increase to $18.42. Los Angeles employers are accustomed to minimum wage increases based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, which is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This year, the hourly minimum wage rate will increase
It’s that time of year, folks—the dog days of August, when vacations are booked, beaches are crowded, and the Department of Finance menacingly recalculates California’s minimum wage. As instructed by statute, August 1st is the date by which state officials must increase (it never goes down!) the minimum wage for the coming year.
So, without further ado: As of January 1, 2026, California’s statewide
In late 2023, California supersized the minimum wage for fast food workers by a whopping 25 percent (increasing it from $16 to $20). This law was opposed by the fast food industry, while labor unions (and their many friends and admirers in Sacramento) insisted it would “benefit workers.”
Well, the results are in. According to a new study released by the Berkeley Research Group, the
California’s minimum wage is already one of the highest in the nation at $16 per hour (although Sacramento’s efforts pale in comparison to those of cities and towns across the Golden State, which have created a patchwork quilt of over 40 different minimum wage obligations up and down the state). Now, as we have previously reported here, the rate is set to increase by
A two-year standoff between the fast food industry and labor unions ended this week as stakeholders announced a deal that will increase the minimum wage to $20 for California workers at fast food chains with more than 60 locations nationwide.
As we previously reported, in September 2022, California passed A.B. 257, which created a 10-member fast-food council with authority to set wage, hour, and
The so-called “Fight for 15” – those widespread protests for a $15 minimum wage – are so passé now!
As of July 1, 2023, West Hollywood takes the crown for the highest mandated minimum wage in the United States at $19.08. Why they didn’t just top it off at $20 is anyone’s guess. (Not to be completely outmatched, several other localities raised their minimum wage
As we previously covered here, the State of California and select California cities increased the minimum wage effective January 1, 2023. Now, another round of minimum wage increases from a dozen localities will take effect on July 1, 2023.
The following list contains the local minimum wage rate, effective July 1, 2023, for non-exempt employees working in each of the California counties and municipalities
We invite you to review our newly-posted January 2023 California Employment Law Notes, a comprehensive review of the latest and most significant developments in California employment law. The highlights include: