Despite delays and confusion surrounding a new minimum wage law for California’s lowest-paid health workers, some employers have begun raising pay ahead of the state’s deadline.
Health care workers at San Bernardino County clinics will get a raise this month even though Newsom and lawmakers delayed the mandated wage increase until at least October. So will workers at University of California health systems, which announced in May that it would comply with the law on its original timeline.
Chas Kelley, a clinical nursing assistant at a clinic operated by San Bernardino County, will see his new wage hike reflected in his next paycheck. His pay is increasing almost $2 to about $23 an hour.
The county didn’t have to grant the raise this month. His union contract does not expire until 2027, and the deadline for the new law is still several months out. But Kelley’s union, Teamsters Local 1932, pressed the county of San Bernardino to implement the raises ahead of the state’s deadline.
The pay bump means Kelley will have a little more money for his monthly expenses, such as his mortgage, car payment and car insurance.
“We have to put a roof over our heads. We’ve got to put food on the table. We’ve got to ensure that we’ve got transportation to and from work,” said Kelley, who often picks up extra shifts at an urgent care clinic on weekends.
Newsom set health care workers on a path to a minimum wage of $25 an hour when he signed the law, Senate Bill 525, last October. It has confused workers because the pace of the raises depends largely on where someone works, and it exempts certain facilities entirely.
The deadline to implement this law has…
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