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Effective January 1, 2024, California minimum wage will increase to $16 per hour for all employers, regardless of size.
The California cities and counties below have ordinances with higher or more extensive minimums. Employers must review and comply with the rules for any locality in which their employees work. Many of those cities change on January 1 of each year, others on July 1 as noted below. The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education publishes regular updates.
City or CountyMinimum Wage RateAlameda (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.52Belmont$17.35Berkeley (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.07Burlingame$17.03Cupertino$17.75Daly City $16.62East Palo Alto$17.00El Cerrito $17.92Emeryville (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.67Half Moon Bay$17.01Foster City$17.00Hayward$16.00 (25 or fewer employees) and$16.90 (26 or more employees)Fremont (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.80Los Altos$17.75Menlo Park$16.70Los Angeles City (from July 1, 2023)$16.78Los Angeles County (Unincorporated Areas) (from July 1, 2023)$16.90Malibu (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.90Milpitas (effective from July 1, 2023)$17.20Mountain View $18.75Novato$16.04 (25 or fewer employees)$16.60 (26+ employees)$16.86 (100+ employees)Oakland$16.50Palo Alto$17.80Pasadena (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.93Petaluma$17.45Redwood City$17.70Richmond$17.20San Carlos$16.87San Diego$16.85San Francisco City and County (effective from July 1, 2023)$18.07San Jose $17.55San Mateo$17.35San Mateo County$17.06Santa Clara$17.75Santa Monica (effective from July 1, 2023)$16.90Santa Rosa$17.45Sonoma$16.56 (25 or fewer employees) and$17.60 (26+ employees)South San Francisco$17.25Sunnyvale$18.55West Hollywood (effective from July 1, 2023)$19.08
Covered employers must review the information for their location(s) and conspicuously post the current wage notice for each applicable jurisdiction, which can be downloaded through the links above.
Businesses with remote employees or employees in more than one location may need to apply different minimum wage rates in each. Some companies solve this complexity by paying the highest applicable rate across the boards.
Some jurisdictions set higher minimum rates for hotel workers. And a new law, AB 1228, prescribes a minimum wage of $20/hour for in-state restaurants of national fast food chains, effective April 1, 2024.
See also:
Helena Kobrin
Daniska Coronado
December 20, 2023
If you are an employer facing possible litigation, or have an employee issue on which you need immediate guidance, call us to set up a consultation, or submit your message.
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