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At Mehtani Law Offices, P.C., our Beverly Hills employment law attorneys know that on September 14, 2023, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 525 (SB 525), raising minimum wages for healthcare workers across the state.
The bill includes five separate minimum wage schedules for covered healthcare employees depending on the employer’s business’s nature, size, and structure.
Here, we discuss the changes healthcare workers will see.
What is Considered a “Covered Healthcare Employer” in California?
Starting June 1, 2024, SB 525 will raise minimum wages for healthcare workers across the state to a minimum of $18 per hour, or up to $23 per hour, depending on the applicable wage schedule and based on the nature, size, and structure of an employer’s operations.
The bill’s provisions will apply to “Covered Healthcare Employers,” as that term is defined under the soon-to-be newly added Labor Code sections 1182.14 and 1182.15 and is defined broadly to include employees who provide patient care, healthcare services, or services supporting healthcare provision.
Examples span nurses and physicians to clerical workers, gift shop workers, janitors, schedulers, and billing personnel.
Contracted and subcontracted employees are also included if they:
- Are employed by an employer that contracts with the healthcare facility employer or with a contractor or subcontractor to the healthcare facility employer to provide healthcare services or services supporting the provision of healthcare.
- Perform contracted or subcontracted work primarily on the premises of a healthcare facility to provide healthcare services or services supporting the provision of healthcare.
- Perform work for a healthcare facility employer that, directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, exercises control over the employee’s wages and hours, or working conditions.
This includes those who work for:
- Ambulatory Surgical Centers Certified for Medicare Participation
- Clinics: specialty care clinics, dialysis clinics, community clinics, psychology clinics, government-run clinics, rural health clinics, and urgent care clinics.
- County Correctional Facilities Providing Healthcare Services
- Home Healthcare: including licensed home health agencies and a patient’s home when healthcare services are delivered by an entity owned or operated by a general acute care hospital or acute psychiatric hospital.
- Hospitals: licensed general acute care hospitals, licensed acute psychiatric hospitals, and other special hospitals.
- Integrated Healthcare Delivery System Work Sites.
- Licensed Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly.
- Licensed Skilled Nursing Facilities: including those owned, operated, or controlled by a hospital or integrated healthcare delivery system or healthcare system.
- Physician Groups.
- Psychiatric and Mental Health Facilities: mental health rehabilitation centers, county mental health facilities, and psychiatric health facilities.
The term “Covered Healthcare Employers” expressly excludes:
- Hospitals owned, controlled, or operated by the State Department of State Hospitals.
- Outpatient settings conducted, maintained, or operated by a federally recognized Indian tribe, tribal organization, or urban Indian organization.
- Tribal clinics exempt from licensure.
Covered Healthcare Employees can enforce their rights under this new law through a civil action as they can implement other minimum wage requirements.
What Changes Does SB 525 Bring to Healthcare Worker Pay in California?
Covered Healthcare Employers will fall within one of the four following groups:
Group One
Covered healthcare facilities with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees, covered healthcare facility employers that are part of an integrated healthcare delivery system or healthcare system with 10,000 or more full-time equivalent employees, covered dialysis clinics, and covered health facilities that are owned, affiliated, or operated by a county with a population of more than 5,000,000 as of January 1, 2023.
Then:
- June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025: $23 per hour.
- June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026: $24 per hour.
- June 1, 2026 to August 1, 2027: $25 per hour
Group Two
Covered hospitals with high populations of Medicare/Medicaid patients, rural independent healthcare facilities, and covered healthcare facilities owned, affiliated, or operated by a county with a population of less than 250,000 as of January 1, 2023.
Then:
- June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2033: $18 per hour with 3.5 percent increases annually.
- June 1, 2033, to August 1, 2034: $25 per hour.
Group Three
Covered primary care community or free clinics that are open for limited services of no more than 40 hours a week and that are not conducted or maintained by a government entity, covered community clinics along with any associated intermittent clinics exempt from licensure, covered rural health clinics, and covered urgent care clinics that are owned by or affiliated with a community clinic.
Then:
- June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2026: $21 per hour.
- June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2027: $22 per hour.
- June 1, 2027, to August 1, 2028: $25 per hour.
Group Four
All other covered healthcare facilities whose pay will include:
- June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2026: $21 per hour.
- June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2028: $23 per hour.
- June 1, 2028, to August 1, 2029: $25 per hour.
Contact Our Skilled Employment Attorneys in Beverly Hills, California Today
If you have questions about your rights as a healthcare worker and whether you are being paid the minimum wage you are entitled to after these dates, contact our skilled employment lawyers in Los Angeles County at (310)-776-3590 at Mehtani Law Offices, P.C. to schedule a free consultation today to discuss your unique circumstances with a law firm that can help pursue real results for your case.