By Alexandra Mendoza
Now that the new City minimum wage ordinance passed by voters this past June has gone into effect this week, all San Diego workers must be paid at least $10.50 an hour. More than 170,000 workers will benefit from this wage increase ahead of the State provisions, which will gradually increase the minimum wage until it reaches $15 an hour in 2022.
Once the June election – where the measure was passed with 63 percent of the votes – results were certified, minimum wage immediately increased from $10 to $10.50 an hour, and will increase to $11.50 this coming January.
As part of the measure, San Diego workers will also be entitled to at least five paid sick leave days per year. The City has allocated a $400,000 budget for the administration and enforcement of the ordinance, including ensuring that employers inform their workers of the increase and for employees to have a means to report employers who do not implement the increase.
The approved regulations include having a dedicated office to handle reports, as well as setting up a multi-language, online and phone system to receive complaints; they also state that failure to comply with this ordinance may result in a fine.
“Now that our new minimum wage and sick leave requirements are in place, it is imperative the City have a central office to administer the wage and help both workers and employers understand the law,” stated Todd Gloria, who authored the bill.
Clare Crawford, Executive Director at the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI), expressed that the lives of thousands of families will change thanks to this measure. “So many San Diegans work hard each day and still have been forced to choose between paying the rent and utility bills and buying adequate food or other essentials,” she said in a press release, “Now their paychecks will stretch farther.”
One of the people who will benefit from the increase is Roselva Gomez, a Burger King worker who is excited about the ordinance taking effect, stating that it had been a long time coming. “The price of everything is so high,” she said. “Every dollar matters, and it’s good to earn a little more to buy food or shoes for my son.”
For full-time workers, the increase will translate into an additional $260 a month. In addition, according to the Center for Policy Initiatives, most minimum wage workers are over 20 years old, and a third of them are working families.
Under the State law signed by California Governor Jerry Brown, minimum wage will not reach $12 an hour until 2019, increasing a dollar per year thereafter until it reaches $15 an hour in 2022.