Tag Archive for: california
California City Minimum Wages: Berkley and Sunnyvale
Berkley and Sunnyvale are among the Cities in the U.S. who recently enacted new minimum wage ordinances.
Berkeley Minimum Wage
Berkeley, California increased its minimum wage rate to $10.00 per hour effective October 1, 2014. The Berkeley Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) includes planned increases to the minimum wage rate in 2015 and 2016.
| Effective Date | Minimum Wage Rate |
| October 1, 2014 | $10.00 |
| October 1, 2015 | $11.00 |
| October 1, 2016 | $12.00 |
Employers regardless of where they are located, must pay the Berkeley minimum wage to their employees who perform at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of Berkeley.
There is no allowable tip credit for the Berkeley minimum wage. An employer must not use an employee’s tips as a credit towards its obligation to pay the Berkeley minimum wage.
Order the GovDocs Berkeley City Poster Compliance Package and save 20% with coupon code 2015MIN. The package includes both versions of the required Berkeley minimum wage posting: English and Spanish.
Sunnyvale Minimum Wage
The City of Sunnyvale enacted a new Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) that took effect January 1, 2015. Employers who are subject to the Sunnyvale Business License Tax or who maintain a facility in Sunnyvale must pay to each employee who performs at least two hours of work per week in Sunnyvale wages of not less than $10.30 per hour.
The Sunnyvale minimum wage rate is adjusted for inflation each January 1. Order the GovDocs Sunnyvale City Poster Compliance Package and save 20% with coupon code 2015MIN. The package includes all three versions of the required Sunnyvale minimum wage posting: English, Spanish, and Chinese.
A total of seven California Cities have enacted minimum wage ordinances. Learn more about California Cities with 2015 Minimum Wages in our GovDocs U.S. Minimum Wage Report.
GovDocs provides posting compliance coverage of more than 50 cities in the U.S. for large employers. If your business operates across multiple states, contact us for a price quote for total posting compliance coverage at the State, Federal, and City level.
Did we mention that GovDocs also provides ongoing compliance coverage for all 10 Canadian Provinces, too? Those are just some of the reasons why North America’s largest employers trust GovDocs for ongoing labor law posting compliance.
California Employees Win Paid Sick Leave
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB No. 1522) giving employees three days of paid sick leave. The law, which amends the California Labor Code, will allow approximately 6.5 million eligible workers in California to accrue paid sick days at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. It covers both public and private employers, but some types of employees are excluded (see Exclusions below).
California is the second state in the U.S. to pass a paid sick leave law. Connecticut was the first in 2011.
What Employers Need to Know about California’s Paid Sick Leave Law
Eligibility: Beginning July 1, 2015, employees must work for at least 30 days within a year from the commencement of employment. The law applies to both employees who are exempted from overtime pay laws as well as those eligible for overtime pay.
Eligibility Exclusions
The law excludes certain California workers from eligibility for paid sick leave:
- Employees covered by valid collective bargaining agreements with existing paid sick days, paid leave, or paid time off policies that permit the use of sick days.
- Certain employees in the construction industry.
- Providers of in-home supportive services.
- Air carrier flight deck or cabin crew members who are subject to the provisions of Title II of the federal Railway Labor Act.
Sick Leave Usage
- Employees can use accrued sick days beginning the ninetieth day of employment.
- An employer may lend paid sick days to an employee in advance of accrual.
- The requested paid sick leave may be used in the diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for:
- The Employee
- Children (biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, or legal ward)
- Parents (biological, adoptive, foster, stepparent, or legal guardian of the employee or employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner)
- Spouse or Registered Domestic Partner
- Grandparents
- Grandchildren
- Siblings
Limits of Accrual
- Accrual of paid sick days is capped to 24 hours (or the eight-hour days) in each year of employment.
- Employees may carry over accrued sick leave time into subsequent calendar years; however, the total amount an employee may accrue remains 24 hours.
- Employers do not have to pay out accrued sick leave to employees upon termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment.
Retaliation: Discriminating or retaliating against employees who request paid sick days is unlawful.
California Employer Notice and Posting Requirements
Employers are required to display the new California Paid Sick Leave Act posting in each workplace. Failure to display the posting are subject to a fine of $100 per offense.
Employers also need to provide employees written notice regarding the paid sick leave balance on each employee’s itemized wage statement or separately on the designated pay date with the employee’s payment of wages.
Save 20% now on the new California Healthy Families Act posting and other postings required for California employers, which are part of the GovDocs California Posting Packages:
- Notice to Employees – Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, and Paid Family Leave
- Safety & Health Protection on the Job
- Discrimination and Harassment are Prohibited by Law
- Pay Day Notice
- Access to Medical Records
- Time Off for Voting
- Minimum Wage
- Emergency Phone Numbers
- No Smoking Except In Designated Areas
- No Smoking
- Notice A, Pregnancy Disability Leave
- Notice B, Family Care and Medical Leave
- Whistleblowers’ Protection Act
- Notice to Employees – Injuries Caused by Work
- IWC Wage Order (multiple industries)
Save 20% on all Federal, California State Labor Law Posters, and California City Labor Law Posters at the GovDocs Labor Law Poster Store with Coupon Code 2015MIN.
[wc_divider style=”dashed” line=”single” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=””]Connecticut Minimum Wage and Wage Orders
Connecticut revised its minimum wage posting and five industry-specific wage orders to reflect increases in its minimum wage rate increases that took effect January 1, 2014.
The revisions are considered mandatory, and employers in the affected industries must display the most current version of the wage order appropriate to their business classification.
The minimum wage posting (aka the Administration Regulations Poster) and other postings required for Connecticut employers are available as part of GovDocs Connecticut labor law poster packages in print and electronic formats.
What is the Connecticut Minimum Wage?
Connecticut was the first state in the U.S. to schedule a minimum wage increase to $10.10 per hour. The increase will occur in stages by 2017. For workers not covered by industry-specific wage orders, the standard Connecticut minimum wage rate schedule is:
- January 1, 2014: $8.70
- January 1, 2015: $9.15
- January 1, 2016: $9.60
- January 1, 2016: $10.10
What is a Connecticut Wage Order?
Along with California and New York, Connecticut is one of three states that requires employers in certain industries to post industry-specific wage orders that define and regulate:
- Minimum fair wage rates
- Calculation of payment
- Overtime rates
- Uniform, housing, and transportation allowances
- Record-keeping requirements for employers
Connecticut established five separate wage orders covering restaurants, dry cleaners, laundry, beauty shop and mercantile businesses who must display the wage order specific to their industry for employees. Each wage order establishes a sub-minimum wage specific to those industries.
Connecticut Wage Order for Restaurant and Hotel Restaurant Occupations
Mandatory Order Number 8 details the minimum fair wage requirements for restaurant employees who are:
“engaged in the preparation and serving of food for human consumption, or in any operation incidental or supplemental thereto irrespective of whether the food is served at or away from the point of preparation, and irrespective of whether the preparation and serving of food is the sole business of the employing establishment.”
Tipped table service workers (waitstaff) earn:
- January 1, 2014: $5.69 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2015: $5.78 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2016: $6.07 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2016: $6.38 per hour plus gratuities
Bartenders earn:
- January 1, 2014: $7.34 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2015: $7.46 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2016: $7.82 per hour plus gratuities
- January 1, 2016: $8.23 per hour plus gratuities
In addition to the statutes covering wage and hour laws which are contained in Title 31, Chapter 558, there are specific wage orders with regulations that cover restaurants, mercantile establishments, beauty shops, dry cleaning and laundry. The Administrative Regulations cover all other businesses. Posters with these regulations must be posted at the place of business. Connecticut also provides Spanish versions of the Administrative Regulations and the Restaurant Wage Order.
Minor Employees in Restaurants
Connecticut restaurants employing minors need to limit the hours worked by staff aged 16-17 years old; for example:
During the school years, minor employees may be scheduled only between 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on days when there is school in session the following day (or until midnight if there is no school the following day) – and no more than six hours per day for a total of 32 hours per week.
The minimum wage for minor workers (17 or younger) is:
- January 1, 2014: $8.70
- January 1, 2015: $9.15
- January 1, 2016: $9.60
- January 1, 2016: $10.10
For more information about the regulation of minors employed in Connecticut restaurants, see the Connecticut Employment of Minors posting, which must be displayed by restaurants employing workers under the age of 18 years.
For more information, download the free A Guide to Wage and Workplace Standards Division and Its Laws from Connecticut Department of Labor (CDOL) Wage and Workplace Standards Division (WWSD).
Move Over San Francisco – Richmond, Calif. to Take Top U.S. Minimum Wage
Above and beyond, that’s what the City of Richmond, California was striving for as they passed a minimum wage ordinance that would create a citywide minimum wage reaching $12.30 per hour by 2017, if the ordinance achieves final approval in May.
Beginning in 2018, the rate would be tied to Consumer Price Index to allow for cost-of-living increases.
Businesses with 10 or fewer employees would be exempt but would be subject to the California state minimum wage or Federal rate.
If approved, Richmond’s minimum wage rate would lead the six U.S. cities that have established their own rates. The other five include:
- San Francisco, California – $10.74
- San Jose, California – $10.15
- Baltimore, Maryland – $7.25
- Albuquerque, New Mexico – $8.60
- Santa Fe, New Mexico – $10.51
JUNE 3, 2014 UPDATE – SEATTLE RAISES MINIMUM WAGE TO $15 PER HOUR
Seatac, Washington established a $15.00 per hour minimum wage for only hospitality and transportation workers, but the rate does not apply to employees across all industries in the city.
Oklahoma recently passed emergency legislation prohibiting its municipalities from establishing independent minimum wage rates.