©2023 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com 2023 Cal-Peculiarities | 203 minimum wage regardless of their productivity, and regardless of the type of activity in which they were engaged during those hours.” The eminent good sense of this decision notwithstanding, the California Supreme Court granted review and then vacated the Certified Tire decision with directions to the Court of Appeal to reconsider the decision in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Oman v. Delta Air Lines.23 Oman, decided in 2020, decided that the Delta Air Lines pay scheme complies with California minimum wage law. Oman ruled that California’s legal limits on wage borrowing permit pay schemes that promise to compensate all hours worked at or above the minimum wage, even if particular components of scheme fail to attribute to each compensable hour a specific amount equal to or greater than the minimum wage.24 7.2.3 Local “living wage” ordinances The national movement favoring a $15 or more minimum wage has won resounding approval in California, not only at the state level but in many municipalities that have adopted various forms of minimum wages—either for companies generally or for those companies that contract with local government.25 In Southern California, minimum-wage ordinances apply in Long Beach, Los Angeles (City and County), Malibu, Pasadena, San Diego, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood. In Northern California, minimum-wage ordinances apply in Belmont, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Cupertino, Emeryville, Los Altos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Oakland, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Richmond, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, San Leandro, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. Application beyond city limits. Some ordinances can apply beyond the city limits. A Court of Appeal affirmed the application of the Hayward, California living wage ordinance to employees who lived or worked outside the city limits. The ordinance’s failure to specify how it would apply in situations where contractors performed work outside of the municipality did not render it unconstitutionally vague. The Court of Appeal also permitted employees, as intended third-party beneficiaries of their employer’s contract with the city, to sue to enforce their employer’s contractual promise to comply with Hayward’s living wage.26 San Francisco minimum wage. San Francisco has stretched the wage and hour envelope as much as any other California city, and the area of the minimum wage is no exception. Voters, by enacting Proposition J, made the minimum wage $14 as of July 2017. Proposition J made the minimum wage $15 by July 2018, with the minimum wage thereafter hiked to further levels as determined by annual changes in the cost of living. The minimum wage rose to $16.99 in July 2022.27 On July 1, 2023, the San Francisco hourly minimum wage will increase to $18.07.28 Here are a few examples of municipal minimum wages: Berkeley. As of July 1, 2022, the minimum wage was raised to $16.99.29 As of July 1, 2023, the minimum wage was raised to $18.07. Emeryville. As of July 1, 2022, the minimum wage was raised to $17.48.30 As of July 1, 2023, the minimum wage was raised to $18.67. City of Los Angeles. The minimum wage rose to $12 in July 2017, with further annual raises each July. Since July 2020, the minimum wage for employers with 26 or more employees has been $15.00.31 Efective July 1, 2022, the minimum wage was increased by $1.04 for a new minimum wage rate of $16.04.32 Effective January 1, 2023, the minimum wage was again raised to $16.78.33 In the City of Los Angeles, the minimum wage for hotel employees is determined annually based on a consumer price index. Effective July 1, 2023, the hotel workers’ minimum wage rose to $19.73 for employees of hotels with 160 or more rooms.34] County of Los Angeles. Effective July 1, 2022, the minimum wage for Los Angeles County was $15.96, for employers of 26 or more employees.35 And, effective July 1, 2023, the minimum wage increased for all employees to $16.90.36 Beginning January 1, 2022, the County’s Chief Executive Officer began determining the adjusted rates of the minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index, which shall take effect on July 1 of that year.37 This practice will continue each year thereafter.38
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