On Tuesday, May 19th, the Los Angeles City Council approved moving forward to draft a minimum wage ordinance that raises the current $9/hr. minimum wage to $15/hr. for most businesses by the year 2020. This 67% increase was approved despite concerns expressed by the business community and even the consultants, who advised not going beyond the Mayor’s $13.25/hr. proposal.
Beginning in 2016, the minimum wage in the City of L.A. will increase annually as follows:
July 1, 2016 – $10.50
July 1, 2017 – $12.00
July 1, 2018 – $13.25
July 1, 2019 – $14.25
July 1, 2020 – $15.00
Beginning in 2017, a modified minimum wage schedule for businesses and non-profits with 25 or fewer employees will go into effect as follows:
July 1, 2017 – $10.50
July 1, 2018 – $12.00
July 1, 2019 – $13.25
July 1, 2020 – $14.25
July 1, 2021 – $15.00
Starting in 2022, the minimum wage will increase every single year based on the previous year on the previous year’s Consumer Price Index for the L.A. Metro area. Non-profit organizations with greater than 25 employees can apply for a waiver if their top executive earns less than five times the wage of the lowest-paid worker, or provide transitional jobs programs, or serve as child care providers, or are primarily funded by city, county, state or federal grants or reimbursements. Consistent with state law, the youth wage will stay as 85% of minimum wage for 160 hours for workers 14-17 years of age.