San Mateo County's minimum wage will increase to $17.06 per hour in unincorporated areas beginning January 1, 2024, as an automatic wage increase.
Minimum wage must be paid to employees who work at least two hours a week, with few exceptions.
Thus, employers, regardless of size, must pay workers at least $17.06 for all time worked within the geographic boundaries of unincorporated San Mateo County.
This new minimum wage means $1.06 more per hour compared to the state minimum wage, which is scheduled to increase to $16 per hour on January 1, 2024.
In November 2022, the Board of Supervisors set a minimum wage for the first time in unincorporated areas. That starting wage of at least $16.50 an hour increases based on a formula that includes the consumer price index.
The measure seeks to put more money into the pockets of fast-food restaurant employees, farmworkers and other typically low-wage workers.
The county’s minimum wage applies to nearly all workers, regardless of immigration status, across a broad geographic region. This includes North Fair Oaks, home to the bustling Middlefield Road corridor, farmland stretching from south of Pacifica to Pescadero, Broadmoor Village in North County and other unincorporated areas.
The County Executive Office said that while it is working to ensure that both employees and employers are aware of the new minimum wage, ultimately the California Labor Commissioner's Office will enforce the minimum wage.
The above, he said in a statement, avoids the establishment of a new local law enforcement agency and, at the same time, provides consistency between jurisdictions, since the mission of the Labor Commissioner is “to guarantee a fair daily wage in every workplace…”.
The minimum wage applies to so-called gig workers, tipped employees, and both adults and children.
Mirroring the state’s minimum wage requirements, there is an exception for “students”: who can earn 85 percent of the minimum wage for the first 160 hours of employment and then the full $17.06 per hour.
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