Labor & Employment Law Blog

According to the California Division of Labor Standard Enforcement’s (DLSE) “Health Care Worker Minimum Wage Frequently Asked Questions” webpage, the new health care minimum wage increases will become effective on a date sometime between October 15, 2024 and January 1, 2025. The precise effective date depends on the following:

• The effective date will be October 15, 2024, if State agency cash receipts for July through September 2024 are at least three percent higher than projected in the 2024 Budget, or
• The effective date will be the sooner of January 1, 2025 or 15 days after the California Department of Health Care Services notifies the Legislature that it has initiated the data retrieval related to hospital quality assurance fees for the program period commencing January 1, 2025. The earliest that this data retrieval can begin is October 1, and the data is generally retrieved sometime in October each year.

The DLSE provides two examples of how the triggers described above to implement the health care minimum wage increases could work:

• If, on October 10, 2024, the Director of Finance informs the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that the agency cash receipts as defined in SB 159 for July 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 are at least three percent higher than projected in the 2024 Budget, the higher minimum wage start on October 15, 2024.
• If the State Department of Health Care Services notifies the Legislature on October 1, 2024 that it has started retrieving the data in the trigger, the law will go into effect on October 16, 2024, which is 15 days after the State Department of Health Care Services’ notification.

Given that the exact effective date of the health care minimum wage increase is unknown, but could be as soon as October 15^th, covered employers are encouraged to prepare themselves to implement the necessary wage increases. The DLSE’s FAQs webpage (linked above) is one resource for employers as they prepare for this forthcoming change.

If you have any questions about the health care minimum wage or other employment law requirements, please contact the authors of this blog post or your usual AALRR counsel.

This AALRR publication is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in reaching a conclusion in a particular area of law. Applicability of the legal principles discussed may differ substantially in individual situations. Receipt of this or any other AALRR publication does not create an attorney-client relationship. The Firm is not responsible for inadvertent errors that may occur in the publishing process.

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