Effective January 1. 2024, California’s minimum wage increased to $16 an hour for all employees for work performed within the state of California! This increase doesn’t just affect employees paid hourly. It also increases the minimum salary an employer must pay employees for employees to qualify for an administrative exemption, executive exemption, or professional exemption from overtime requirements.
That is because for one part of the two-part test for those exemptions, employees must earn a monthly salary equivalent to at least two times the state’s minimum wage for full-time work. As a result, the minimum salary for those exemptions always increases in tandem with every increase to the hourly minimum wage rate. That new minimum annual salary is at least $66,560.
Some cities and counties have their own local minimum wage that is higher than the state rate. Also, there may be some job field specific minimum ages that apply. For example, there is a fast food workers minimum wage that goes into effect in California on April 1, 2024.