One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
L.A.'s New Minimum Wage Begins To Go Into Effect Today
Starting Friday, Los Angeles businesses with more than 25 employees will be paying an hourly minimum wage of $10.50, as the city's minimum wage ordinance begins to go into effect. Today's increase, a fifty-cent bump from the former minimum, is just the beginning—the law, which Mayor Eric Garcetti signed off on in June 2015, mandates that the city gradually increase the minimum wage every year until 2020, when the minimum reaches $15.
L.A.'s historic ordinance helped set the stage for the Fight For $15 movement across the country, and, more locally, the County Board of Supervisors followed suit and approved a minimum wage hike for unincorporated areas of the county shortly thereafter, which also goes into effect today. In April, Governor Jerry Brown signed state-level minimum wage legislation, which will begin to take effect in January 2017.
Not all L.A. businesses will be affected immediately, however; smaller businesses—those with 25 or fewer workers—will have an extra year before they take on the new wage.
According to NBC 4, for city and county businesses with more than 25 employees the minimum wage will be $12 by July 2017, $13.25 by July 2018, and $14.25 by July 2019. Businesses with 25 or less workers will take an extra year to adopt these new wages.
Related legislation requiring city businesses with more than 25 employees to provide at least six days of paid sick leave benefits will also be going into effect today. State law, on the other hand, only requires businesses to offer three days of paid leave.
Today, the Los Angeles Coalition Against Wage Theft is hosting a fair that will inform workers about their rights as defined in the new wage law. The free event, which will take place from 10:40 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Grand Park in Downtown, will also have appearances by Garcetti and L.A County Supervisor Hilda Solis. And there'll be zumba dancing! Event organizers lauded the new legislation, saying it helps "set a precedent in the southland so it can truly lift thousands out of poverty."
Garcetti, in a written statement, said that "raising the wage helps to build a stronger middle class in Los Angeles, which is good for our entire local economy."
Sponsored message
Some cities, while also voting to raise the minimum wage, have decided to march to their own beat. Long Beach, for example, voted earlier this year to raise their minimum to $13 by 2019.
This is all great news. It means you can now work (slightly) less than 89 hours a week to afford an apartment in L.A.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
