Bay Area City’s Minimum Wage to Increase by up to $4

In January, Fremont City Council unanimously voted to increase the minimum wage to $15 over the next two years. The Bay Area city will make this increase ahead of the state-mandated minimum wage increases that will be implemented in 2022 and 2023. In Fremont, businesses with 26 or more employees will have to pay workers at least $13.50 an hour by July 1 of this year. By July 1, 2021, all businesses in the city will be required to pay employees at least $15-an-hour. The current minimum wage in the state is $11 per hour for small businesses and $12 per hour for large businesses. 

There are several other cities in and around the Silicon Valley that will reach the $15 per hour minimum wage requirement before the state-mandated minimum wage increase. The following cities are already at a minimum wage rate of $15-an-hour: Berkeley, El Cerrito, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Richmond, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. There is a provision in Fremont’s ordinance, however, that exempts workers under the age of 25 years from the wage increase if they are employed by a non-profit or government entity for less than 120 days. We will have to wait and see what the affects of the minimum wage increase will have on employees in the state.

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