2025 Minimum Wage All Employers

As we go into 2025 there are going to be some changes for employers throughout California. In this article we are going to focus on Minimum Wage which starting January 1, 2025, will be $16.50 per hour regardless of how many employees you have, and of course there are a few more exceptions to this new minimum wage. What are these exceptions you ask, well they fall within industry, County and or City regulated minimum wage, employers must always pay the stricter minimum wage in accordance with their physical business location. For our example will use Sonoma County, California and a few cities within the County.

Minimum Wage

in this example if your business was in Petaluma, Ca., minimum wage is $17.97 per hour unless you own a fast-food restaurant then minimum wage is $20.00 per hour. Individuals between the ages of 14-17 the minimum wage is $15.30 per hour for the first 160 hours, if they have no previous similar or related experience within the industry.

With that said as we go into 2025 it is important to look into the minimum wage in your area to ensure that you are in compliance with the current standard, and make sure that you have your current minimum wage and labor posters, you can get your minimum wage posters through CalChamber to ensure you have the right ones.

If you are found to be in violation of minimum wage for your business location, there are multiple penalties and fees you could potentially face. The first is unpaid wages which would be retroactive to the first day that employee(s) qualified for the wage, next is interest that the employee(s) will be eligible for on the unpaid wage(s), then you have the civil penalty which is $100.00 per employee, if you are found in violation again it is $250.00 per employee, and lastly there’s attorney fees.

As we briefly discussed above California minimum wage does have multiple minimum wage schedules it is important that you as an employer within the state to research and ensure that your pay rates are in compliance with your local minimum wage here is the minimum wage for fast food workers, health care workers, California City and County Current Minimum Wage right now this last link is still as of July 2024 but it will update when minimum wage officially changes so make sure to bookmark this for future reference.