Summary
In California, wages and employment compliance policies are changing. This is your mid-year update with details on the changes.
It’s that time of year again to review any California local city/county ordinance changes to the hourly minimum wage. The state of California hourly minimum wage remains $16.90 per hour effective January 1, 2026, be on the lookout for the upcoming state change effective January 1, 2027.
Below are the minimum wage changes for city/county ordinances effective July 1, 2026:
- Berkeley: $19.61/hour (up from $19.18/hour)
- Fremont: $18.05/hour (up from $17.75/hour)
- Los Angeles County (unincorporated areas): $18.47/hour (up from $17.81/hour)
- City of Los Angeles: $18.42/hour (up from $17.87/hour)
- City of Malibu: $19.71/hour (up from $17.27/hour)
- Milpitas: $18.50/hour (up from $18.20/hour)
- Pasadena: $18.57/hour (up from $18.04/hour)
- San Francisco: $19.61/hour (up from $19.18/hour)
- Santa Monica: $18.47/hour (up from $17.81/hour)
In addition to the above local minimum wage rates, there are also industry-specific rates at the local level that will take effect on July 1, 2026:
- Hotel workers: For hotel workers at properties with 60 or more guest rooms in the Cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica, the minimum wage increase will be $25.00 per hour. In West Hollywood, the minimum wage rate for hotel workers will be $20.87 per hour (up from $20.22/hour).
- Health care workers: Minimum wage rates will increase on a sliding scale (from $19.28/hour to $25.00/hour), depending on the facility type. Examples include:
- Hospitals with 10,000 or more full-time employees; covered healthcare facilities run by large counties (over 5 million people); and dialysis clinics: $25.00 per hour (up from $24.00/hour).
- Intermittent clinics, community clinics, rural health clinics, or urgent care clinics associated with community or rural health clinics: $22.00 per hour (up from $21.00 per hour).
- Safety net hospitals: $19.28 per hour (up from $18.63/hour).
- Fast food workers: The minimum wage remains $20.00 per hour.
Action items for California employers:
- Employers that operate in multiple cities/counties should not assume non-exempt employees should be paid the California state minimum wage as their base hourly rate – instead, employers should confirm whether any local minimum wage rate may apply based upon the location of where the employee works and specific industry, including any remote employees (not just the business headquarters or office).
- Confirm that all hourly minimum wage employees are paid per the state of California minimum wage or city/county work location, and any salaried/exempt employees should be paid minimally the state of California twice the hourly minimum wage.
For any questions or guidance on strategy for a proper compensation analysis based upon compliance and competition in the industry, give me a call (951) 254-3868 or send me an email to discuss sp@hrconsultpro.com.