On July 1, 2016, Pasadena will be one of several Southern California cities to implement a minimum wage requirement. Pasadena’s new Minimum Wage Ordinance requires employers to pay employees no less than the minimum wage described in Municipal Code 5.02.015 for each hour worked within the geographic boundaries of the City. The Ordinance is effective from July 1, 2016 for large employers (employers with 26 or more employees), and July 1, 2017 for small employers (employers with 25 or fewer employees).
MINIMUM WAGE RATE INCREASES
Pasadena’s minimum wage ordinance provides for a steeper increase in the minimum wage than does the State. For Pasadena employers with 26 or more employees:
- On July 1, 2016, the minimum wage rate will be $10.50 per hour
- On July 1, 2017, the minimum wage rate will be $12.00 per hour
- On July 1, 2018, the minimum wage rate will be $13.25 per hour
For Pasadena employers with 25 or fewer employees:
- On July 1, 2017, the minimum wage rate will be $10.50 per hour
- On July 1, 2018, the minimum wage rate will be $12.00 per hour
In February 2019, the City will consider increasing the minimum wage rate:
- On July 1, 2019 to $14.25 per hour
- On July 1, 2020 to $15.00 per hour
and adjusting the minimum wage rate for inflation beginning July 1, 2022, and each July 1 thereafter.
NOTICE AND POSTING
Under the Ordinance, every employer must post in a place visible to all employees the notice published each year by the City informing employees of the current minimum wage rate and of their rights under the Ordinance. Every employer must also give written notification to each current employee and to each new employee, at the time of hire, of the employee’s rights under the law and the employee’s possible right to the federal Earned Income Credit (EIC). Every employer must also provide each current and new employee, at the time of hire, the employer’s name, address and telephone number in writing.
RECORDKEEPING
Pasadena employers are required to keep for three years records of each employee’s name, hours worked and pay rate.
RETALIATION AND REMEDIES
The law establishes a rebuttable presumption that any adverse action against an employee within 90 days of exercising rights under the law is retaliatory. Remedies under the law include back pay, reinstatement, attorney’s fees, liquidated damages and suspension of an employer’s business license.