On April 4, Governor Brown signed an increase in the California minimum wage.  The minimum wage increase will take place in stages.

Under SB 3 (Leno) the minimum wage will increase to $10.50/hour on Jan. 1, 2017, and $11/hour on Jan. 1, 2018.  The minimum wage would increase by one dollar per year on Jan. 1 of each year until it reaches $15/hour in 2022.  Businesses employing 25 or fewer employees will have an additional year to implement each step in the minimum wage increase.

Once the minimum wage reaches $15/hour in 2020, SB 3 will be indexed annually for inflation, limited to an increase of 3.5% (rounded to the nearest 10 cents).

The Governor has some discretion to delay scheduled increases prior to 2020 based on certain very specific economic or fiscal conditions.