[KHTS] – Santa Clarita Valley employers are preparing for a minimum wage hike effective Jan. 1, 2016, although some employers will eventually be paying a higher minimum than others in Los Angeles County.
California’s minimum wage will increase statewide to $10 per hour on Friday, and L.A. County will raise its minimum wage to $15, starting at $10 and then increasing over the next five years.
Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation on Sept. 25, 2013, raising California’s minimum wage to $9 per hour on July 1, 2014, with a final adjustment to $10 per hour on January 1, 2016. It marked the first increase in California’s hourly minimum since 2008, when the minimum wage was raised 50 cents to $8.
Earlier this year the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to phase in a minimum wage hike to $15 in 2020, beginning with a mid-year 2016 raise to $10.50. The move applies only to the unincorporated county communities such as Stevenson Ranch, Castaic and Agua Dulce.
“The city of Santa Clarita has no plans to do any increases in minimum wage,” said Jason Crawford, Santa Clarita’s economic development manager. “We will just default to what the state does.”
Some Santa Clarita businesses located in the unincorporated areas of the valley will have to comply with the county’s higher wage rates, and some fear it will can create confusion.
“It gets problematic when it comes to city and county lines,” said Assemblyman Scott Wilk.
For instance, one employee could be making $10 an hour while another just up the street makes (eventually) $15 an hour doing the same thing, said Wilk.
“This creates an uneven playing field,” he said.
Additional Information About Minimum Wage
State law requires employers to post information on wages, hours and working conditions at a worksite area accessible to employees.
Notices for the wage orders in English and Spanish can be downloaded and printed from the Workplace postings page on the DIR website.
Almost all employees in California must be paid the minimum wage as required by state law. Workers who are paid less than the minimum wage may file a wage claim with the Labor Commissioner’s office.
DIR protects and improves the health, safety and economic well-being of over 18 million wage earners, and helps their employers comply with state labor laws.
DIR’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, or DLSE, also known as the Labor Commissioner’s Office, enforces prevailing wage rates and apprenticeship standards in public works projects, inspects workplaces for wage and hour violations, adjudicates wage claims, investigates retaliation complaints, issues licenses and registrations for businesses and educates the public on labor laws.
Employees with work-related questions or complaints may contact DIR’s Call Center in English or Spanish at 844-LABOR-DIR (844-522-6734).
The California Workers’ Information line at 866-924-9757 provides recorded information in English and Spanish on a variety of work-related topics.
Note to Secret Service: This image was provided by the Calif. Dept. of Industrial Relations
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5 Comments
A $15 minimum wage will be an TOTAL FAILURE. Learn why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3pQzQTqOKc
Kimberly Beers of KHTS must be confused. I didn’t realize that Eric Garcetti was/is the mayor of L.A. County and I did not know that he could sign ordinances that affect unincorporated Los Angeles County.
Also, according to Ms. Beers byline, how can “some” businesses comply with the $15.00 wage ordinance and not others? If you’re business is in the unincorporated areas you will be paying your employees $15.00 an hour by July 2020. One exception – if you employ less than 26 employees you receive a one year grace period….BIG DEAL.
True, Eric Garcetti did sign the ordinance that applies to the City of Los Angeles. For the unincorporated areas of the Santa Clarita Valley, you have 3 members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to thank for killing the business-friendly community of the Santa Clarita Valley.
Did you know that of the 3 supervisors who voted for the increase to the $15.00 minimum wage that NONE of them live and/or represent the Santa Clarita Valley!
We will be hearing and reading much more about the wage increase and the impacts to both small and large businesses in the Santa Clarita Valley in the next 18 months.
scvnews.com should start a separate section within the web site as to the number of jobs lost and businesses that will have closed and/or moved away from the unincorporated areas due to this unsustainable wage increase.
Here’s something to think about. By July 2020, those working in the unincorporated will be making $7.00 more per hour than what they were making on June 30, 2014!
That equals to:
$280 per week more
$1213 per month more
$14560 per year more
That does not include the increase to employer paid taxes and the funding of any benefit plans – or paying the penalty to opt-out of Obamacare.
What business small and/or large can sustain that type of wage increase?
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
Do those who advocate for higher minimum wages ever consider the impact these decisions have on senior citizens? You can bet their incomes won’t rise by 50% in the next five years but the price of most everything they buy will definitely have to increase to offset these higher wages. If minimum wages were so fantastic, they would have worked just fine with all the previous increases. Upward mobility is based upon improving one’s skills not some arbitrary government handout.
Brieanna-Windy Solorio