Massive Victory for California Healthcare Workers: First-in-the-Nation $25 Minimum Wage
Thanks to a monumental, years-long effort from healthcare workers and their unions, over 400,000 workers at various healthcare facilities across California will see significant wage increases as early as July 2024. Under Senate Bill (“SB”) 525, the minimum wage for workers who provide direct patient care or support services at large hospitals and dialysis clinics will be raised to $23 in 2024, $24 in 2025, and $25 in 2026. The minimum wage for another group of workers at smaller healthcare facilities will move to $21 in 2024, $23 in 2026, and $25 in 2028. There are separate timelines for workers at community clinics and “financially distressed” healthcare institutions, but in sum, the bill requires progressive minimum wage increases for all covered healthcare workers over the next few years.
SB 525 is expansive in scope, covering employees at large integrated health systems, hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, public hospitals and healthcare centers, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis clinics, community clinics, surgical centers, and urgent care clinics, among others. Examples of covered jobs include, but are not limited to, nurses, doctors (including residents, interns, and fellows), technicians and technologists, janitors, housekeeping staff, groundskeepers, guards, clerical workers, nonmanagerial administrative staff, food service workers, gift shop workers, coding and billing personnel, schedulers, call center and warehouse workers, and laundry workers.
California, like most other states, is facing a staffing crisis in the healthcare industry. Healthcare workers in the state report their departments are chronically understaffed, which has led to delays in care, unsafe working conditions, and widespread job vacancies. SB 525 should go a long way toward recruiting and retaining new workers in the field.
If you have any questions about whether you or your employer is covered by SB 525, please contact your usual labor law counsel.