Employers in California are faced with a myriad of complex federal and state laws.  It does not stop there.  An employer with employees working in the City of Oakland may also need to comply with local ordinances.

The following is an overview of employment regulations in Oakland.

Minimum Wage

Like several other cities in California, Oakland has its own citywide minimum wage ordinances. Oakland’s minimum wage is currently $15.06, and increases on January 1, annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

Hotel Workers Protection and Employment Standards

Oakland also has a separate minimum wage for hotel workers working at hotels with 50 or more guest rooms. Currently, the hotel worker minimum wage in Oakland is $16.38 with health benefits or $21.84 per hour without health benefits.

Covered hotel employees must provide employees with a panic button to report an ongoing crime, threat, or another emergency, as well as support after reporting such violent or threatening behavior.

The ordinance also establishes workload restrictions and limitations on mandatory overtime and guarantees employees access to records regarding their pay rate, daily workload, and overtime.

Paid Sick Leave

Oakland also has its own paid sick leave ordinance. Employees who perform at least 2 hours of work in a particular week within Oakland are entitled to accrue paid sick leave.

Covered employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work. Small businesses defined as having less than 10 employees who work for compensation in a given week, may cap paid sick leave hours at 40 hours, and all other employers may cap paid sick leave at 72 hours.

Employers must allow employees to use accrued paid sick leave in their “bank” in the following instances:

• When an employee is physically or mentally unable to perform his/her duties due to illness, injury, pregnancy, or medical condition;

• To obtain a professional diagnosis or treatment of his/her medical condition or undergo a physical examination; and

• To aid or care for a child, parent, legal guardian or ward, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, registered domestic partner, or a “designated person” who is ill, injured, or receiving medical care, treatment or diagnosis.

A “designated person” is defined as an individual the employee designates to provide care for the employee if the employee does not have a spouse or registered domestic partner.