California to vote on $18 minimum wage — in 2024

Dive Temporary:

• California voters will resolve in November 2024 whether or not the state’s minimal wage must be elevated to $18 per hour by 2025 after a poll initiative secured the mandatory variety of legitimate signatures, California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber introduced Thursday.
• Proponents of the measure initially sought to place it up for vote within the state’s November 2022 election, however the initiative didn’t safe the mandatory variety of signatures, information outlet CalMatters reported. If enacted, Initiative 21-0043A1 would improve California’s minimal wage for big employers with 26 or extra staff to $18 per hour by Jan. 1, 2025, whereas employers with fewer staff would wish to adjust to the $18 threshold by Jan. 1, 2026.
• If handed, the initiative will direct the state’s finance director to implement annual changes to the minimal wage each Jan. 1.

Dive Perception:

2022 marks the primary 12 months of implementation for California’s statewide $15 an hour minimal wage for big employers. Although different jurisdictions are set to cross the $15 threshold within the coming years, California at present maintains the nation’s highest state minimal wage price; California’s $15 minimal wage is surpassed solely by Washington, D.C., whose hourly price is 20 cents extra.

Proponents of the $18 initiative embody Joe Sandberg, a founding investor of Blue Apron. The initiative joins a wave of different, related proposals. Notably, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed into impact Act 114 final month, which is able to push the state’s minimal wage to $18 an hour by 2028.

A good expertise market has already led massive employers to discover pay will increase as a way of attracting employees. In September 2021, Amazon made headlines after asserting that its common beginning hourly wage for success and transportation staff had elevated to greater than $18 hour, reaching increased than $22 per hour in some cases.