California Minimum Wage Highest In US

Louis A. Storrow, Esq.

Governor Arnold Schwartzneggar has signed AB 1835, raising the state's minimum wage to $7.50 an hour as of January 1, 2007, and $8.00 as of January 1, 2008 - the highest minimum wage of any state in the US.  It will also increase meal and lodging credits (amounts an employer can count against minimum wage when it provides employees with meals or lodging) by the same percentage as the minimum wage increases.

An earlier version would have included automatic increases tied to inflation in later years, but that provision was dropped.

The Federal minimum wage, which affects employees outside California, remains at $5.15 per hour.