California Health Care Workers Get Pay Hike

Many California health care workers got a pay bump on October 16 under delayed implementation of a state law that will gradually increase their wages to at least $25 an hour.

Workers at rural, independent health care facilities will start making a minimum of $18 an hour, while others at hospitals with at least 10,000 full-time employees will begin getting paid at least $23 an hour this week. The law will increase workers’ pay over the next decade, with the $25 hourly rate kicking in sooner for some than others.

The health care worker minimum wage covers 20 different types of health care facilities, including most hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, in-home health agencies, in-patient mental health facilities and several types of clinics.

A covered facility must provide the higher health care worker minimum wage to their nonexempt employees who provide patient care, health care services, or services supporting the provision of health care. That last clause greatly broadens the scope of which employees are covered and includes nurses; physicians; caregivers; medical residents, interns or fellows; patient care technicians; janitors; housekeeping staff; groundskeepers; guards; clerical workers; medical coding and billing personnel; schedulers; nonmanagerial administrative workers; food service workers; gift shop workers; technical and ancillary services workers; call center and warehouse staff; and laundry workers.

In addition to these classes of employees directly employed by a covered health care facility, contracted employees from another employer who the health care facility jointly employs or who provides health care services, or services supporting the provision of health care are covered.

Further, the health care worker minimum wage alters how exempt covered health care employees are paid. Unlike the state law where an exempt employee is paid a salary at the equivalent of two times the standard statewide minimum wage, exempt covered health care employees must be paid the higher of either:

• Two times the standard statewide minimum wage; or
• 1.5 times the applicable health care worker minimum wage.

Finally, covered health care employers must post a supplemental minimum wage notice in the workplace alongside the regular statewide minimum wage notice.

For a complete list of covered facilities and other resources, including the required supplemental notice in English, Spanish or simplified Chinese, please visit CalChamber’s Health Care Worker Minimum Wage resource page.

Staff Contact: Matthew J. Roberts