Los Angeles Minimum Wage

L.A. Among Cities Implementing Midyear Minimum Wage Hikes

July 23, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

Minimum wages recently went up in a number of cities across California, including Los Angeles as part of a planned implementation of gradual increases. In 2015, city council established a new citywide minimum wage and put L.A. on a schedule to reach $15 per hour by 2020. This would be applicable for businesses with 26 or more employees, with smaller companies given an extra year to reach $15. The minimum wage is set to go up on July 1 each year, with this year hitting $13.25, or $12 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees. In 2022, the minimum will continue to adjust based on cost of living as determined by Consumer Price Index.

Many other cities also raised their hourly minimum wages at the beginning of July, according to UC Berkeley, who has built an inventory of minimum wage ordinances across the U.S. California changes as of July 1 include: Belmont, $12.50; Emeryville, $15.69 (56 or more employees), $15 (less than 56 employees); Malibu, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees); Milpitas, $13.50; Pasadena, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees); San Francisco, $15; San Leandro, $13; and Santa Monica, $13.25 (26 or more employees), $12 (less than 26 employees). Continue Reading ›

Court Serves Up Heaping Portion of Employee Rights

July 13, 2018 | by Nassiri Law

In-N-Out Burger Inc. employees should be allowed to wear buttons in support of higher minimum wage, according to a recent ruling from a federal appeals court. A panel with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals recently unanimously upheld a decision by National Labor Relations Board in a case regarding employees at In-N-Out Burger wearing Fight for $15 buttons. The company tried to ban the buttons arguing they interfered with the company’s image, which includes a very specific uniform and a dress code that prohibits wearing pins or stickers. The company also claimed the buttons could pose food safety concerns, but NLRB and the panel said that was not enough reason to restrict workers’ rights and that doing so was in violation of federal law, according to a report from Reuters.

Fight for $15 is an organization that supports unions and pushes for higher minimum wage, especially among fast-food workers across the country. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, protects the right of workers to join a union and encourages collective bargaining. It also holds firm against practices by employers deemed harmful to the general welfare of workers. What does all of this have to do with employees wearing buttons?

Some Fear $15 Wage Minimums Will Drive Jobs Out of L.A.

March 3, 2016 | by Nassiri Law

A recent opinion column in the Orange County Register takes an employer-favored look at how a $15 minimum wage could drive jobs out of California, even though there are nearby places like Orange County that are not subject to Los Angeles’ minimum wage law.

Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles are increasing their respective minimum wages, so they will be at $15 by the year 2021. The minimum wage for the county and city will gradually increase to this number, and, unless the state minimum wage is raised again, it will be $5 more per hour than what the state requires. It is always possible for a local jurisdiction such as a city or county to have a higher minimum wage than the state, but they cannot ever have a lower minimum wage, as that would be in violation of state law. Continue Reading ›

California Minimum Wage Bill Stalls Again

September 30, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

There is no question that the minimum wage in California is too low. While some employers may not agree with this statement, anyone making minimum wage who actually tries to live in Los Angeles or the Orange County area and take care of a family knows all too well the reality of the situation. The bottom line is dedicated employees are working hard for minimum wage, but they are unable to make ends meet and take care of their families.

In order to correct this problem, there has been a lot of talk about raising the minimum wage in California, but, if these bills do not pass, it may not be anything more than talk. According to a recent news article from Business Management Daily, legislative efforts to raise the statewide minimum wage have stalled. The main bill, which many consider to be controversial, is Senate Bill 3 (SB 3), which was designed to increase the state minimum in wages in phases over several years. The total increase would have been in the amount of $3 per hour. The bill would have also set up a schedule for annual cost of living increases (COLAs). The first phase would have increased the minimum wage rate for the state of California to $11.00 per hour, and this would have gone into effect on January 1, 2016. On July 1, 2017, there would have been an automatic increase in the state minimum wage to $13.00 per hour. The automatic COLA increases would have begun in 2019. Continue Reading ›

Fight to Raise State Minimum Wage to $13/HR in California

June 12, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

The City of Los Angeles has just passed what many consider a landmark minimum wage bill for all wage earners working within city limits. This is a huge step for residents of the city, but it is not the first example of a city minimum wage law. Los Angeles has simply decided to follow in the footsteps of other major metropolitan areas around the county, upon the realization that a state minimum wage is not a living wage in their cities, and lowest income workers are not able to travel great distances each day to work for the state minimum wage.

However, these minimum wage hikes will not be of any help to workers who are employed outside of the city, including unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County. According to a recent news report for the Orange County Register, state lawmakers are now engaged in a major battle over whether or not to raise the statewide minimum wage to $13 per hour by the year 2017. Continue Reading ›

Los Angeles Minimum Wage $15 per Hour by 2020

May 19, 2015 | by Nassiri Law

For the past year, there has been a great deal of debate about creating a minimum wage for the City of Los Angeles. The state already has a minimum wage, but it has become increasingly clear that state minimum wage does not equate to a living wage for the residents and workers in Los Angeles.

With that in mind, the debate over whether or not Los Angeles should follow the lead of other cities and establish their own minimum wage is quickly turning into a debate of what the new minimum wage for the city should be, as it was obvious some form of a minimum wage law was needed. There was understandably a lot of input from advocates for low-wage workers and also for business owners and other employers in the city of Los Angeles. As one could easily imagine, workers’ advocates and employers had vastly different ideas on what the new minimum wage should be and when it should take effect.

There were three main proposals that emerged as frontrunners in the debate, and the amounts of the new minimum wage ranged from around $11 per hour to $15 per hour. The number of years to fully implement the increased minimum wage ranged from a little as three years to more than 15 years. According to a recent news article from the Washington Post, city officials have decided to raise the citywide minimum wage to $15 per hour, and this increase will take effect by 2020. Continue Reading ›