Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities throughout California have enacted “hazard pay” or “hero pay” ordinances across a variety of industries with the healthcare industry as a focal point.
On July 7, 2022 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed the “Healthcare Workers Minimum Wage Ordinance” (“Ordinance”) which, effective August 13, 2022, increases minimum wages for non-supervisory/managerial employees of privately-owned healthcare facilities within the City of Los Angeles. The stated purpose of the Ordinance is to “fairly compensate[] [healthcare workers] for keeping us safe while facing risks to themselves and their families.” The bill recites that between 2019 and 2020 job vacancies for various types of nursing personnel increased by up to 30%, and that nearly 30% of healthcare workers are considering leaving the profession altogether (based on a 2021 survey by the Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation). The authors claim that an increase in the minimum wage to $25.00 per hour will help alleviate some of these concerns. The Ordinance will go into effect on August 13, 2022 and provides for further annual increases to the minimum wage based on the annual increase in the cost of living (as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) beginning on January 1, 2024.
The Ordinance only applies to privately owned facilities within the boundaries of the City of Los Angeles including:
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