Our team just wanted to send a reminder about the changes to minimum wage
and paid sick leave ordinance for Los Angeles that go into effect on
July 1, 2017. These apply to any company in the ‘City of Los Angeles’,
or any ‘unincorporated’ community in Los Angeles County. Local
city ordinances may also be in effect on
July 1st, such as Pasadena and Santa Monica.
Paid Sick Leave
For the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, effective
July 1, 2017, employers with 25 or fewer employees must grant at least 48 hours of
paid sick time to each employee. This is an increase from the 24 hours
per year required by the California paid sick leave law. Any company with
25 or fewer employees that already has a frontloaded paid sick leave policy
in place that provides at least 24 hours between July 1, 2017 and December
31, 2017 does not need to make any adjustment until
January 1, 2018. Also, any company that has a paid leave, vacation, or paid time off (PTO)
policy that provides compensated time off that is equal to or no less
than 48 hours per year, there is no need to adopt an additional sick time
policy. For employers with 26 or more employees, there are no changes
as the changes above went into effect July 1, 2016 for these companies.
Minimum Wage
The minimum wage in Los Angeles will rise according to the following schedule:
Employers with 26 or more employees generally must pay a wage of at least
the following hourly rates:
$10.50, beginning July 1, 2016;
$12.00, beginning July 1, 2017;
$13.25, beginning July 1, 2018;
$14.25, beginning July 1, 2019; and
$15.00, beginning July 1, 2020.
Employers with 25 or fewer employees generally must pay a wage of at least the following hourly rates:
$10.50, beginning July 1, 2017;
$12.00, beginning July 1, 2018;
$13.25, beginning July 1, 2019;
$14.25, beginning July 1, 2020; and
$15.00, beginning July 1, 2021.
Beginning on
July 1, 2022, the minimum wage will increase annually based on inflation. The City
of Los Angeles is expected to announce the adjusted rates on January 1,
and publish a bulletin announcing the adjusted rates that will take effect
on July 1 of each year.
For exempt employees, the minimum pay in CA remains at $800/week for employers
with 25 or fewer employees and $840/week for employers with 26 or more
employees. In regards to the appeal of the injunction placed on the Department
of Labor’s Overtime Rule that would increase the minimum pay for
exempt employees, a delay on the appeal hearing has been extended to
June 30, 2017. As soon as there is any update on the appeal, our team will send out
additional information right away.