Minimum Wage Increases On the Table
Proposals to raise the minimum wage have been placed on the
table at both the federal and state level.
At the federal level, President Obama used his State of the
Union address to unveil his plan to raise the federal minimum wage rate in
stages to $9 an hour by 2015. The current federal minimum wage rate is $7.25 an
hour.
At the state level, a California legislator introduced a
bill (AB 10 - Alejo) to raise the minimum wage in stages to $9.25 an hour by
2016. The current minimum wage in California is $8 an hour. The bill also
proposes to tie the minimum wage to the California Consumer Price Index
beginning January 1, 2017. This would allow for annual upward adjustments to
the minimum wage.
The bill, as currently drafted, would prohibit the state
Industrial Welfare Commission from adjusting the minimum wage downward and from
adjusting the minimum wage upward if the average percentage of inflation from
the previous year was negative.
The federal proposal is also tied to inflation.
The federal minimum wage has not been adjusted since 2007.
The state minimum wage was adjusted in 2008.
Reminder: Employers
in San Jose must comply with a new city minimum wage ordinance effective March
11, 2013. The minimum wage rate for local businesses in San Jose will increase
to $10 an hour.
San Francisco has had a higher minimum wage in effect since 2004.
The current rate for employers with employees working in San Francisco is
$10.55 an hour. Both San Francisco and San Jose have mandatory minimum wage
posting requirements. These posters are available for purchase at the
CalChamber Store.
HRWatchdog will continue to monitor developments in this
area.
Gail Cecchettini Whaley, CalChamber Employment Law Counsel/Content
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