Los Angeles Mayor Proposes A Los Angeles Minimum Wage

Los Angeles' newly elected mayor has made the grand proclamation he shall raise the minimum wage to $13.25 an hour in Los Angeles over the next three years. If this measure is passed Los Angeles minimum wage will go to $10.25 an hour immediately (whenever that is), and then increase by $1.50 the next two years. Then in 2017 Los Angeles' minimum wage will rise to the consumer price index for metropolitan Los Angeles (is that something easily determined?).

Is the mayor's proposal a dream? Is this measure merely designed to lead to businesses being clueless what the then existing minimum wage is, and for them to be purchasing boundary maps to see if their business is in Los Angeles, an unincorporated area of the city, or a city such as Burbank which unbeknownst to management in Ohio is a separate city? Are employees going to get fired because they complain they are not being paid minimum wage, but they do not exactly get it right when asserting what the minimum wage is in Los Angeles?

So far all of this is just about Los Angeles, but there are a whole lot more cities and businesses in California subject to minimum wages other than the normal $9.00 an hour California statewide minimum wage.

1. An executive order hiking Federal Minimum Wage for employees who are contractors with the United States Government. This is law.
2. A California statewide increase to $9.00 an hour as of July 1, 2014 with more increases Coming (the next to $10.00 an hour). This has passed.
3. The San Diego City Council approved a minimum wage hike to $11.50 an hour by January 1, 2017. This is subject to much controversy, and could be overturned.
4. The City of Richmond approved a minimum wage hike to $12.30 an hour for the Northern California area
5. The City of San Francisco approved a minimum wage hike to $10.75 an hour
6. San Jose approved a minimum wage hike to $10.15 an hour
7. The Los Angeles City Council put in a bid to raise minimum wage to $15.37 an hour for hotel workers. This seems to be in the works, and Los Angeles business leaders want the Los Angeles hotel minimum wage approved before the citywide minimum wage laws.
8. The Mayor of Los Angeles wants a minimum wage hike of $10.25 forthwith, $11.75 by some point in 2016, $13.25 in 2017, and then a Los Angeles City minimum wage hike tied to the Consumer Price Index for Metropolitan Los Angeles

Are all of these hikes being proposed to garner previously unregistered minority voters or young people who suddenly realize their elected Politian got them more money for every hour they work, or tried to do so? One sure wonders. While all of these minimum wage hikes are admirable, 46% of Los Angeles' workers make less than $15.00 per hour. This does not suggest minimum wage should be $15.00 an hour. It makes a $15.00 an hour minimum wage closer to the median earned by all workers. Is this an ambition that only the state or federal government can have? Stay tuned for my next report on minimum wage.

In a recent minimum wage debate it was suggested my comments were susceptible to, maybe minimum wage should be handled on a statewide or federal level. It was suggested the cost of living is different in various cities so they should have different minimum wages. These recent developments in city minimum wages raise serious issues about what minimum wage is, what it should be, and who should enforce it.

If you have questions about whether your employer properly paid you minimum wage, or any

other wage, please contact our labor lawyers at (323) 525-1600.

We handle all employee labor disputes including cases about unlawful employment terminations, workplace discrimination (age, disability, Family Medical Leave, Pregnancy), and sexual harassment. We handle all wage and hour cases including on an individualized basis meaning we will represent just one worker owed wages, or handle class actions for unpaid minimum wage and other wages.

We have employment law offices in downtown Los Angeles, Gardena, Sherman Oaks, San Diego, Tustin, Riverside, Oxnard, Bakersfield, and elsewhere.

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