Workers, employers, and businesses operating in Pasadena are reminded that the new minimum wage ordinance approved by the city council began July 1, 2016. The first phase of the ordinance, which took effect July 1, only pertains to companies with 26 or more employees in Pasadena. For them, the minimum wage is now $10.50 per hour.
Under the city’s ordinance, companies with 25 or fewer employees in Pasadena must raise the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour by July 1, 2017.
Hourly wages will not automatically jump to $15 per hour on July 1 and it is anticipated that most employees in Pasadena will not receive any raise, especially if their hourly rate already is more than $10.50 per hour. The ordinance is a multi-phase, multi-year approach to elevating the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020.
For updated information from the city, go online to www.cityofpasadena.net/MinimumWage. This website also has the formal notices available in several languages that can be printed and displayed for employees to read. All local, licensed businesses affected by the new ordinance beginning July 1 have been sent mailed notices.
The city has appointed Jon Pollard, code compliance manager for the planning department’s code enforcement division, to oversee the Minimum Wage Ordinance program, including compliance and outreach. Pollard has served for over 12 years as the city’s code compliance manager. He can be reached via email at jpollard@cityofpasadena.net.
For complaints, workers can contact the city via the Citizen Service Center, by phone at (626) 744-7311 or online at www.cityofpasadena.net/citizen-service-center. Additional information will be available at the consumer kiosk stations at the Jackie Robinson Community Center (1020 N. Fair Oaks Ave.) and the Villa-Parke Community Center (363 E. Villa St.). The online compliant form is available at: www.cityofpasadena.net/Planning/MinimumWageComplaintForm.
Anyone who wants to file a complaint should provide as much specific documentation as possible, including paystubs that show hourly wages paid. Anonymous complaints can be received, but code enforcement and compliance could be limited.
Pasadena’s local ordinance was approved prior to the state law and the state law did not specifically prohibit local jurisdictions from passing local minimum wage ordinances. As a result, companies and businesses with employees working in Pasadena must comply with the city’s ordinance whenever the local, municipal law exceeds the standards of the state law.
For businesses with 26 or more employees in Pasadena, the following schedule applies. For companies with 25 or fewer employees, the same schedule is delayed by one year.
– Starting July 1, 2016, increases the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour.
– Starting July 1, 2017, increases the minimum wage to $12 per hour.
– Starting July 1, 2018, increases the minimum wage to $13.25 per hour.
After further city council action:
– Starting July 1, 2019, increases the minimum wage to $14.25 per hour.
– Starting July 1, 2020, increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
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