California Governor Jerry Brown just announced a compromise that would raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022 and head off competing union-backed ballot measures. The proposal raises the current $10 minimum wage every January starting in 2017 until it reaches $15 in 2022.
Employers with fewer than 25 workers have an extra year to reach $15 per hour. The measure also adds in-home support service workers to the list of employees entitled to three paid sick days per year.
A ballot initiative backed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West qualified for the November ballot last week. It also would raise the current $10 minimum wage to $15. An SEIU California State Council-backed initiative now gathering signatures would raise the minimum wage for 3.3 million Californians to $15 by 2020 and would provide six paid sick days.