Pasadena Minimum Wage

On Monday night, February 1st, the Pasadena City Council, on a unanimous vote of 7-0 (with Margaret McAustin of District 2 absent) voted to increase the minimum wage in Pasadena.
 
The City Council is scheduled to approve the ordinance codifying the new local minimum wage on Monday, March 14, 2016.

The new minimum wage will be:
  • July 1, 2016: $10.50 per hour
  • July 1, 2017: $12.00 per hour
  • July 1, 2018: $13.25 per hour

There is a one-year deferral for small businesses with 25 or fewer employees. Certain non-profits with 26 or more employees may defer for one year, as well. They included an exemption for training wages for youth 17 years old or younger for the first 160 hours of employment.

Before February, 2019, city staff must return with a report on impacts to local employment, our economy, businesses, sales tax revenue, poverty rates and other metrics. The City Council can, at that time, vote to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020, if the report shows little or no impact.

There is no Total Earnings exemption for employees who make wages through commissions, tips or other means. Every employee must be paid the locally mandated minimum wage unless there is a deferment related to business size, non-profit status or youth employment.

The City Council also included no mitigating provisions to help local small business offset the increase to costs.

The City Council will also be considering how to enforce the ordinance, which could include hiring staff to investigate and enforce anti-wage theft provisions against employers.

The City Council directed the City Attorney to prepare the ordinance for approval in the next 30 days. It will go into effect July 1, 2016.

Here is a link to the story in the Pasadena Star-News about the increase: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/government-and-politics/20160202/pasadena-will-raise-the-minimum-wage-as-council-approves-plan

Here is the link to the story in Pasadena Now: http://www.pasadenanow.com/main/city-council-votes-to-move-forward-with-15-per-hour-minimum-wage-ordinance/#.VrOY8eazqao

You can still email the City Council at city_council@cityofpasadena.net to let them know how your  business will cope with the wage increase.

The Pasadena Chamber proposed an increase to $12.50 per hour by 2020, but the City Council did not even discuss the merits of our proposal. We also submitted reports, data, analysis and economic studies about the impacts of a minimum wage increase on employment, youth, businesses and more, but that was not discussed, either.

We were very pleased that so many chamber members emailed the City Council about your concerns. At the meeting, which ended at 12:20am, some members were present to speak about Impacts of the minimum wage increase. THANK YOU to everyone who took time to communicate with the City Council. Thanks also to the California Restaurant Association for their support and assistance.

The evaluation and requirement of a positive affirmative vote in 2019 before further increases can be required was a recommendation of the Chamber, though it is a small positive aspect of the minimum wage vote by the City Council.

While disappointing, the outcome of the minimum wage vote was not unexpected given the political views and affiliations of the members of the City Council.

The Chamber and some of our members are discussing further actions that can be taken. If you would like to be part of those discussions, please email paul@pasadena-chamber.org to be included.