California Increases the Minimum Wage for Health Care and Fast-Food Workers

On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that will raise the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of Californian health care workers to $25.00 per hour by June 2028.  Specifically, the law will gradually increase the hourly wage of medical technicians, nursing assistants, custodians, and other support staff each year until it reaches $25.00 in June 2028. Notably, the new law follows Governor Newsom’s approval of a separate bill, signed on September 28, 2023, increasing Californian fast food workers’ minimum wage to $20.00 per hour beginning in April 2024. 

California currently has the highest minimum wage of any state across the country at $15.50 per hour (Washington D.C.’s minimum wage is higher at $17.00 per hour); however, in July 2023 California’s Department of Finance certified a minimum wage increase to $16.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2024.  Also, in November 2023, California voters will have an opportunity to increase the state’s minimum wage to $18.00 per hour by January 2023 for large employers and by January 2026 for smaller employers. 

In July 2023, New York City enacted similar legislation increasing the hourly wage for food delivery workers employed by apps such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub in New York City to $17.96 per hour (not including tips), and to $19.96 per hour by April 2025.  Indeed, in recent years, city, state, and county leaders have been passing their own wage increases while the federal minimum wage remains stagnant at $7.25, in a testament to the growing power of organized labor nationwide and in response to the increasingly high costs of living many Americans face. 

Workers who believe their employer is improperly denying them minimum and/or overtime wages, or subjecting them to other workplace violations, should seek legal counsel to analyze their potential claims.