A Reminder of Minimum Wage Increases in California for the New Year

California’s drive toward a $15 minimum wage for all employers continues. Effective Jan. 1, 2022, the minimum wage for employers with 25 employees or less will increase to $14.00 per hour, and for employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage will increase to $15.00 per hour. Employers must remember this increase also affects minimum salary requirements for exempt employees.

While some local minimum wages increase mid-year, many others, like the City of West Hollywood,  increase on January 1 at the same time the State’s increases take effect.

Additionally, the following local minimum wage increases go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, and are differentiated by employer size:

Hayward

Employers with 25 or fewer employees:

$14.52 per hour

Employers with 26 or more employees:

$15.56 per hour

Novato

Employers with 1 to 25 employees:

$15.00 per hour

Employers with 26- 99 employees:

$15.53 per hour

Employers with 100 or more employees:

$15.77

Sonoma

Employers with 25 or fewer employees:

$15.00 per hour

Employers with 26 or more employees:

$16.00 per hour

The following local minimum wages go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, regardless of employer size:

City

Required Minimum Wage as of January 1, 2021, Irrespective of Employer Size

Belmont

$16.20 per hour

Burlingame

$15.60 per hour

Cupertino

$16.40 per hour

Daly City

$15.53 per hour

East Palo Alto

$15.60 per hour

El Cerrito

$16.37 per hour

Half Moon Bay

$15.56 per hour

Los Altos

$16.40 per hour

Menlo Park

$15.75 per hour

Mountain View

$17.10 per hour

Oakland

$15.06 per hour

Palo Alto

$16.45 per hour

Petaluma

$15.85 per hour

Redwood City

$16.20 per hour

Richmond

$15.54 per hour

San Carlos

$15.77 per hour

San Diego

$15.00 per hour

San Jose

$16.20 per hour

San Mateo

$16.20 per hour

Santa Clara

$16.40 per hour

Santa Rosa

$15.85 per hour

South San Francisco

$15.80 per hour

Sunnyvale

$17.10 per hour

Employers must also ensure their minimum wage postings are updated appropriately to reflect state and local increases.

Reprinted with permission from SHRM 12.2021