by Cathleen Yonahara
On September 25, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed Assembly Bill (AB) 10, which will raise the state minimum wage in stages to $10 per hour. Employers will be required to raise wages to $9 per hour by July 1, 2014, and to $10 per hour by January 1, 2016. The current minimum wage is $8 per hour.
This is the first minimum wage increase in California in five years. Some Bay Area cities and counties already have raised their minimum wages this year. San Francisco’s minimum wage is $10.55, and San Jose’s is $10.
The minimum salary requirement for exempt employees under state law also will increase. To qualify as exempt under the executive, administrative, or professional exemptions, employees must earn a monthly salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Under the old law, exempt employees had to earn at least $2,773.34 per month. With the enactment of AB 10, the minimum monthly salary for exempt employees will increase to $3,120 on July 1, 2014, and $3,466.67 on January 1, 2016.