The Santa Monica City Council passed a minimum wage ordinance which becomes effective on July 1, 2016. The ordinance includes a phased increase to reach $15.00 in 2020 for most businesses, with a one year delay to 2021 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees and for qualifying nonprofits. The ordinance provides a higher wage for Santa Monica hotel workers of $13.25 on July 1, 2016, and $15.37 on July 1, 2017, but unlike the similar ordinance passed in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica increase will apply to hotels of all sizes.

The Santa Monica City Council also passed additional policies beyond those passed in Los Angeles, including a sick leave provision requiring nine paid sick days for employers of 26 or more employees, and five paid sick days for smaller employers, exceeding the recently enacted state law that provides a minimum of three days or 24 hours. The new ordinance also includes an exemption permitting first time workers to be paid 85% of the minimum wage for 480 hours or six months, whichever comes first. Santa Monica also exempts union employees working under a collective bargaining agreement.

The highlights of the ordinance can be found here.

—————————————————————————–
This publication is published by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. The publication is intended to present an overview of current legal trends; no article should be construed as representing advice on specific, individual legal matters, but rather as general commentary on the subject discussed. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Articles may be reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2016. All rights reserved. ECJ is a registered service mark of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. For information concerning this or other publications of the firm, or to advise us of an address change, please send your request to hpadilla@ecjlaw.com or visit the firm’s website at ECJLaw.com.