Pasadena Will Raise Minimum Wage to $15 an Hour in 2020

PASADENA, CA -- The City Council voted 7-1 on Monday to continue a course of raising the municipal minimum wage to $15 an hour by July 1 of next year. Small businesses, however, will get an extra year to comply.

Under the resolution that was approved last night, on July 1, 2019, the hourly wage shall be $14.25, or $13.25 for small employers that employ fewer than 25 people. Then, on July 1, 2020, the hourly wage increases to $15, or $14.25 for small employers. On July 1, 2021, the wage for small employers will also increase to $15/hour.

Also, starting July 1, 2021, the city's minimum hourly wage will be adjusted by an amount that's equal to the change in consumer price index, a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for goods and services.

By agreeing to raise the minimum wage to $15 by July 20120, Pasadena will reach that pay level 18 months sooner than the state as a whole. California is scheduled to raise it's wage from the current $12 an hour by a dollar per hour at the start of each year until reaching $15/hour on Jan. 1, 2022.

For businesses with 26 or fewer employees, the state wage still goes up by a dollar each year, but will rise from the current $11/hour to $14/hour in January 2022.

Under state law, employers are required to pay employees the larger of the state wage or that of the city in which the business is located.

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