California Local Wages Increase July 2023

As the June Gloom finally burns off and temperatures begin to rise, a number of cities across the state are set to increase their minimum wage effective July 1, 2023.

In Southern California:

• The City of Los Angeles will increase its minimum wage by $0.74 to $16.78 per hour.
• The minimum wage in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will increase to $16.90 per hour.
• The City of Pasadena will increase its minimum wage to $16.93 per hour.
• The City of Malibu will increase its minimum wage to $16.90 per hour.
• The City of Santa Monica will also increase its minimum wage to $16.90 per hour.
• The City of West Hollywood will increase its minimum wage to $19.08 per hour.

In the Bay Area:

• The City of Milpitas will increase its minimum wage to $17.20 per hour.
• The City of Alameda will increase its minimum wage to $16.25 per hour.
• The Cities of Berkeley and San Francisco will each increase their minimum wages to $18.07 per hour.
• The City of Fremont will increase its minimum wage to $16.89 per hour.
• The City of Emeryville will raise its minimum wage to $18.67 per hour.

Note that an employee’s minimum wage is determined by where they perform work for their employer, not by the location of their employer.

Many geographic areas, including but not limited to Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, San Francisco, the City of Los Angeles, and unincorporated areas of LA County require that any employee who works at least two hours in a single one-week period within their geographic boundaries be paid at the minimum wage for the hours worked within that city or county.

Important:  If an employer requires an employee to work at various locations with different minimum wages, it is advised that the employer pays the employee the highest applicable minimum wage for all hours worked.

As a reminder for employers across the state, minimum salary requirements for exempt employees are based on the state’s minimum wage of $15.50 per hour and will therefore be unaffected by these local/city level minimum wage increases. The state minimum wage updates annually on January 1^st.

Required Notices

Employers are reminded to post notices of current minimum wage rates in a conspicuous place – near water coolers or time clocks, or in break rooms and kitchens – it just needs to be in a place accessible to all employees. Alternatively, sending an image of the poster to all employees is also acceptable.

Ian (Aspen) Ferber-Paxson is an attorney in our employment practice group.