SANTA MONICA—The minimum wage in the city of Santa Monica which currently sits at $16.90 per hour, will be rising to $17.27 per hour starting July 1, 2024. Santa Monica’s minimum wage law sets general and hotel worker wages and mandates paid sick leave.
The amount increases annually by the published Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Works (CPI-W) for the Los Angeles metropolitan area (LA-Riverside-Orange County, CA) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Santa Monica posts the new rates annually on or near January 1.
The wage for hotels and businesses operating on hotel property is $19.73 per hour and will increase to $20.32 per hour effective on July 1, 2024. This rate aligns with the city of Los Angeles’ Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Rate. Santa Monica will post the new rates annually on or near May 15.
The paid sick leave provision requires Santa Monica employers to provide 40 hours (small businesses) or 72 hours (larger businesses) of paid sick leave.
The ordinance includes service charges, first-time workers, enforcement provisions, and a limited exemption for employers providing transitional jobs. To apply for the Transitional Jobs exemption email wagehelp@dcba.lacounty.gov.
Employers must post Santa Monica notices. At a minimum, employers must post Santa Monica’s legal notices in English and Spanish.
Businesses must also post notices in any other language spoken by five percent or more of the employer’s workforce.
Legal notices are available for download below. Contact wagehelp@dcba.lacounty.gov to request the legal notices in an additional language.
See below for legal notices valid from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, and the legal notices valid from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. These contain updated minimum wage and hotel worker living wage rates.
For additional details visit https://www.santamonica.gov/minimum-wage.
