Conducting periodic reviews of the wage that you pay to your employees is always a good idea. We suggest setting up a regular salary schedule review period for different categories of workers (administrative employee salary reviews in 2017, general labor positions reviewed in 2018, etc.) to make sure that everyone is addressed in a timely and efficient manner. The first step in this review is to make sure that all employees are at and above the current state minimum wage. So to get started, find out what the minimum wage is in your state by following this link: https://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm.

In California, where a large number of our clients currently headquarter their businesses, the minimum wage is set at $10.00 per hour as of this blog post. As of January 1, 2017, that amount will be raised to $10.50 per hour for companies with more than 25 employees. Gradually, there are increases set every year until January 1, 2023 when all companies (even those with less than 25 employees) in the state of California will be required to set the minimum pay at $15.00 per hour.

However, some cities also have their own minimum wage requirements. The City of Los Angeles will be raising their minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2020. San Francisco’s minimum wage rate is $13.00 per hour as of July 1, 2016. Confused yet?

With a state such as California that is often viewed as employee-friendly, employers can expect to see changes such as this continue in the future. There should be a designated human resources professional in your office, or someone that you outsource and can be reached by employees to answer questions about the minimum wage in your workplace. For companies that have offices in different cities, you must be sure to stay on top of the minimum wage increases for each of those locations. The easiest way is to stay connected via the Department of Labor website, as well as the city website pages that affect your company. This link is also helpful for our Los Angeles clients: http://wagesla.lacity.org/.

If you have any questions or need clarification on your minimum wage policies, feel free to give us a call to review!