Under the new statewide healthcare worker minimum wage law, all healthcare employers fall under one of four groups, each with their own timeline for raising the minimum wage of their employees. You can see these categories below.
Once each of those tiers reaches $25 per hour, the minimum wage will be annually adjusted for inflation or 3.5%, whichever is less. This is the first $25 minimum wage in the country and also the first healthcare-specific minimum wage, and will lead to wage increases for more than 400,000 healthcare workers in California. The law covers all healthcare workers who provide services that directly or indirectly support patient care, including contracted workers. This includes clinicians, nurses, certified nursing assistants, aides, technicians, maintenance workers, janitorial or housekeeping staff, groundskeepers, guards, food service workers, laundry workers, and pharmacists, but does not include managers or supervisors.
Let’s be clear about how we got here: For years, SEIU-UHW members led the way in pushing for a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers. When our employers threw everything into stopping it, we pushed back and won passage of the law (SB 525). Then we pushed back AGAIN when we faced efforts to delay implementation until next year. We used our political strength to keep up the pressure for the minimum wage law to go into effect on October 16…and WE WON!
Group 1 — Large health systems and hospitals and all dialysis clinics
Facilities that have more than 10,000 full time equivalent employees, or are part of an integrated health system with that many. All dialysis
clinics.
Group 1 Timeline for minimum wage increases
October 16, 2024: $23
July 2025: $24
July 2026: $25
Group 2 — Smaller health facilities
Facilities that have fewer than 10,000 full time equivalent employees, or are part of an integrated health system with fewer than 10,000.
Group 2 Timeline for minimum wage increases
October 16, 2024: $21
July 2026: $23
July 2028: $25
Group 3 — Truly financially distressed
Hospitals with high Medi-Cal and Medicare payor patient populations (over 90%) and small rural independent hospitals.
Group 3 Timeline for minimum wage increases
October 16, 2024: $18
July 2026: Annual Increase of 3.5% until $25/hour is reached
Group 4 — Community clinics
All community and primary care clinics, including federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, free clinics and intermittent clinics.
Group 4 Timeline for minimum wage increases
October 16, 2024: $21
July 2026: $22
July 2027: $25
County-owned facilities will start the minimum wage timeline on January 1, 2025.