California Workers Get a Raise, Whether They’re Paid Minimum Wage or They’re Exempt Workers
California employees who make minimum wage will get a $1 raise for 2020 while exempt workers will earn twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment.
For minimum wage workers, their per hour pay will increase to $12 if they work for a business with 25 employees or less. Workers making minimum wage will get paid $13 an hour if they work for a business that has 26 or more employees.
The minimum wage for workers at businesses with any number of employees is set to keep increasing until Jan. 1, 2023, with businesses employing 25 or less workers staying $1 an hour behind businesses that employee 26 or more employees. By 2023, all businesses in California will be required to have a minimum wage of $15 an hour.
Some employees are exempt from the minimum wage law including outside salespeople and apprentices regularly indentured under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards, according to California’s Department of Industrial Relations. The parents, spouse or child of the employer are exempt from the state’s minimum wage law.
Other exemptions to the minimum wage law include learners – employees who spend their first 160 hours of employment working in occupations they have no related experience in – must be paid at least 85 percent of the minimum wage rounded to the nearest nickel.
Other workers exempt from minimum wage include employees who are mentally or physically disabled (or both), and nonprofit organizations that employ disabled workers. These workplaces may be issued a special license by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement that authorizes employment at a wage less than the state’s minimum wage.
It’s not just minimum wage workers who are getting a boost in pay. Exempt workers are those employed in professions that are not covered by wage and hour laws including overtime pay, breaks and lunches, according to the California Employers Association. Workers in administrative, professional and executive exemption roles are required to be paid at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment in order to meet the threshold of exempt. That translates to workers in these fields earning at least $54,080 annually if the business they work for employs 26 or more people. Workers in these roles must be paid at least $49,920 annually to be given salaried exempt status at companies that employ 25 or fewer employees.
Licensed physicians and surgeons employees’ minimum hourly rate of pay exemption has increased to $84.79 per hour, up from last year’s rate of $82.72 per hour, according to the CEA. Computer software employees’ minimum hourly rate of pay exemption increased to $46.55 per hour.
If you are concerned that your employer isn’t following the new guidelines for California’s wage laws, Yarian and Associates, APC can help you. Our attorneys are knowledgeable in numerous aspects of California’s wage laws including not paying overtime, making illegal paycheck deductions and not compensating employees for breaks of less than 20 minutes. We have multiple locations in the Greater Los Angeles area and can help Spanish-speaking clients. Call us at (844)291-1911 or visit us at Yarianlaw.com.
