REQUIRE NEW NOTICES

Continuing the trend of escalating minimum wage laws, numerous cities and one county in California increased their minimum wage effective July 1, 2016. See, for example, our blogs on San Francisco, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Los Angeles City, and Los Angeles County.  The laws vary in their application to smaller and larger employers, as described below.

The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education has published an on-line list of  the local California jurisdictions with ordinances raising the minimum wage above the $10.00/hour statewide standard.  All but one went into effect July 1, 2016. San Diego’s was effective July 11, 2016.

The ordinances specifically define the terms “Employer” and “Employee” for application of their standards.  For example, the Los Angeles ordinance specifies an “Employee” to be a person who performs work for an employer for at least two hours in a week within city limits.  That ordinance defines “Employer” as anyone who “employs or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of any Employee,” whether directly or indirectly.  Other municipalities have similar definitions with some variations.

Each ordinance requires that affected employers post an updated official notice where employees can read it easily.  We supply links to access those notices below.  Some of the ordinances require employers to post the notice in Spanish and/or other specific languages in addition to English. Others require that employers post the notice in other languages spoken by at least a certain percentage of their employees.   See, for example, City of Los Angeles and El Cerrito.

• Emeryville Small Business ($13.00 if 55 or fewer Employees) and Large Business ($14.82 if 56 or more Employees)
• El Cerrito  ($11.60 all Employers)
• Long Beach ($14.07 for hotel workers)
• Los Angeles City ($10.50 if 26 or more Employees)
• Los Angeles County ($10.50 if 26 or more Employees)
• Pasadena ($10.50 if 26 or more Employees)
• San Francisco ($13.00 all Employers)
• San Diego ($10.50 all Employers)
• Santa Monica ($10.50 if 26 or more Employees and $13.25 for hotel workers)
• Sunnyvale ($11.00 all Employers)

Businesses must also provide a complete and accurate Wage Notice to each new employee.

If you have: (a) individual workers who perform work in more than one applicable municipality; or (b) facilities in different applicable municipalities where you have employees, you need to confirm any required implementation of the local minimum wage ordinance in each case.  As compliance can be complex, we encourage you to obtain assistance from your attorneys, accountants, and payroll services.  Each of the laws has its own nuances, including such things as future increases, provisions on counting tips in minimum wage or not, and exemptions.  It is therefore important that you become familiar with the express provisions of any minimum wage laws that may apply to your company.

For further information, contact one of our attorneys  Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth, or Helena Kobrin.

Helena Kobrin, July 21, 2016