Employment Law

California To See $15 Minimum Wage by 2022

By Nadia P. Bermudez

Minimum Wage
In a historic move, Governor Jerry Brown has signed into law SB-3, raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2022. The wage, currently the highest statewide minimum wage in the U.S., will have an enormous impact on California businesses, with future adjustments beyond 2022 automatically tied to inflation.
Nadia P. Bermudez
Nadia P. Bermudez

On April 4, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 3 (SB-3), which is a plan to increase the state’s hourly minimum wage incrementally towards $15 per hour by 2022.  Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would have until 2023 to increase minimum wages to $15 per hour under SB-3.

For any employer who employs 26 or more employees, the minimum wage shall be as follows:

From January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017—$10.50 per hour.
From January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018—$11 per hour.
From January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019—$12 per hour.
From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020—$13 per hour.
From January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021—$14 per hour.
From January 1, 2022 and until adjusted (see below)—$15 per hour.

For any employer who employs 25 or fewer employees, the minimum wage shall be as follows:

From January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018—$10.50 per hour.
From January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019—$11 per hour.
From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020—$12 per hour.
From January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021—$13 per hour.
From January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022—$14 per hour.
From January 1, 2023 and until adjusted (see below)—$15 per hour.

According SB-3, on or before August 1, 2022, the California Director of Finance “shall” calculate an adjusted minimum wage as follows:  “[t]he calculation shall increase the minimum wage by the lesser of 3.5 percent and the rate of change in the averages of the most recent July 1 to June 30, inclusive, period over the preceding July 1 to June 30, inclusive, period for the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics nonseasonally adjusted United States Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers…”  The adjusted wage will then be rounded to the nearest ten cents ($0.10) with each new adjusted minimum wage increase to take effect the following year on January 1.

Questions? Please contact Nadia Bermudez at 619-239-8131.