Redwood City – San Mateo County’s minimum wage will rise to $17.06 an hour in unincorporated areas starting Jan. 1, 2024, as an automatic pay increase.
The minimum wage must be paid to employees who work at least two hours a week, with few exceptions. 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 will be $1.06 per hour higher than the state’s minimum wage, which is scheduled to increase to $16 an hour on Jan. 1, 2024.
To put more money into the pockets of fast-food employees, agricultural laborers and other typically low-wage workers, the Board of Supervisors in November 2022 set a minimum wage for the first time in unincorporated areas. That initial wage of at least $16.50 an hour rises based on a formula involving the consumer price index.
The County’s minimum wage applies to nearly all workers, regardless of immigration status, across a wide geographic region. This includes North Fair Oaks, home to the bustling Middlefield Road corridor, agricultural land stretching from south of Pacifica to Pescadero, Broadmoor Village in the North County and other unincorporated pockets.
The County’s Executive Office is working to ensure that both employees and employers are aware of the new minimum wage.
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office will ultimately enforce the minimum wage. This avoids establishing a new local enforcement agency while providing consistency across jurisdictions as the Labor Commissioner’s mission is to “ensure a just day's pay in every workplace….”
The minimum wage applies to so-called gig workers, employees who get paid tips and both adults and minors. Mirroring the state’s minimum wage requirements, there is an exception for “learners” – who may earn 85 percent of the minimum wage for the first 160 hours of employment, then the full $17.06 per hour.
Official notices (suitable for printing) along with details about the increase can be found at www.smcgov.org/minwage.
This page includes employer notices in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese along with frequently asked questions.
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org