Reminder: San Mateo County’s New Minimum Wage Ordinance Goes Into Effect

Update Applicable to:
All businesses in San Mateo County, California.

What happened?
Workers will make at least $16.50 an hour in unincorporated San Mateo County starting April 1, 2023, the first local minimum wage for areas that range from commercial corridors to coastal farmland.

What are the details?
The Board of Supervisors in November 2022 approved setting the minimum wage at $16.50 to put more money into the pockets of fast-food employees, agricultural laborers, and other typically low-wage workers. This new minimum wage is $1 per hour higher than the state’s minimum wage, which increased on January 1, 2023.

The minimum wage must be paid to employees who work at least two hours a week, with few exceptions. Businesses of all sizes must pay workers at least $16.50 for all time worked within the geographic boundaries of unincorporated San Mateo County.

The County’s minimum wage applies to workers regardless of immigration status across a wide geographic region. This includes North Fair Oaks, home to the bustling Middlefield Road corridor, agricultural land stretching from south of Pacifica to Pescadero, Broadmoor Village in the North County, and other unincorporated pockets.

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office will ultimately enforce the minimum wage. This avoids establishing a new local enforcement agency while providing consistency across jurisdictions as the Labor Commissioner’s mission is to “ensure a just day’s pay in every workplace….” The ordinance also allows an individual employee to sue his or her employer for not complying.

The new minimum wage applies to so-called gig workers, employees who get paid tips, and adults and minors. Mirroring the state’s minimum wage requirements, there is an exception for “learners” – who may earn 85 percent of the minimum wage for the first 160 hours of employment, then $16.50 per hour.

Beginning January 1, 2024, and then annually, the County’s minimum wage will be set based on a formula involving the consumer price index, which tracks the prices of goods and services, and the prior year’s increase.

For more information, please see the links below:

San Mateo County Website Announcement

Boundaries of Unincorporated San Mateo

Labor Commissioner’s Office

Minimum Wage Requirements

Article

What do employers need to do? Employers should review the links provided above and make immediate adjustments to their payroll to ensure their minimum wage complies with the new ordinance.