In addition to passing their own paid sick leave laws, Los Angeles and San Diego have also chosen to raise minimum wages over the course of several years.

The Los Angeles ordinance provides the following schedule of minimum wage increases:

For employers with 26 or more employees:

• July 1, 2016: $10.50/hr
• July 1, 2017: $12.00/hr
• July 1, 2018: $13.25/hr
• July 1, 2019: $14.25/hr
• July 1, 2020: $15.00/hr

For employers with 25 or fewer employees:

• July 1, 2016: $10.00/hr (as required by state law)
• July 1, 2017: $10.50/hr
• July 1, 2018: $12.00/hr
• July 1, 2019: $13.25/hr
• July 1, 2020: $14.25/hr
• July 1, 2021: $15.00/hr

The San Diego ordinance provides the following schedule of minimum wage increases:

• July 2017*: $10.50/hr
• January 1, 2017: $11.50/hr
• January 1, 2018: $11.50/hr
• January 1, 2019: $11.50/hr + additional increases based on inflation

*The initial minimum wage increase will become effective as soon as election results from June are approved (which is estimated to occur around the first or second week of July).

UPDATE: On July 11, 2016, the San Diego Council approved the June 7, 2016, election results, officially accepting the minimum wage increase to $10.50 per hour.

Employers should be mindful of these minimum wage requirements and carefully review employee payrolls, particularly for the next several years when local laws exceed California state law requirements. For example, although the California minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $15.00 per hour for large businesses by January 1, 2022, state law currently only requires that large employers pay employees $10.00 per hour in 2016, $10.50 per hour in 2017, and $11.00 per hour in 2018—amounts significantly lower than that required by the Los Angeles ordinance and slightly lower than that required by the San Diego ordinance.