California raised its minimum wage to $ 14 an hour on Friday, with the goal of eventually reaching $ 15 by 2023, according to The Associated Press.
Since 2017, incremental wage increases have been in effect in the Golden State. Gov. Gavin Newsom
Gavin NewsomFlorida Reports First Case Of New, Contagious Coronavirus Strain LA Public Health Agency Tweets COVID-19 Death Every 10 Minutes To Encourage People To Stay At Home Los Angeles County Coronavirus Deaths Reach 10,000 In Total MORE (D) is authorized to temporarily suspend the increases, but said earlier this year that he would not, citing the effect of such a move on frontline workers in particular.
“As we continue our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, we also need to ensure that as our economy recovers, all Californians can benefit from the growth,” he said in July. “If this rise is not continued, life will only become more difficult for the Californians who have already borne a disproportionate share of the economic hardship caused by this pandemic.”
The increase will be only $ 13 per hour for companies with 25 or fewer employees.
Several other new labor and business rules will also take effect from early 2021 on Friday, including a requirement that all state-based companies have at least one racial or sexual minority on their board of directors. According to the AP, the minimum will increase in 2022 to two for boards with fewer than nine people and three for boards with nine or more.
Another regulation requires all businesses with at least 100 employees to provide state breakdowns by race, ethnicity, and gender to identify potential pay differentials. The minimum number of employees before a company must give employees time off will decrease from 50 to five, the AP reported.
The state also expanded the framework that employees must file to file complaints of discrimination or retaliation against employers from six months to a year.