Starting on July 1, new laws will go into effect, impacting Californians in various ways, including higher minimum wages and how food and beverage goods are labeled for consumers.
Minimum wage
Local jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles County, will update their minimum wage ordinance, with their hourly pay rates exceeding that of the state’s requirement. Currently, Californian’s minimum wage is $16.90 per hour for most economic sectors.
Hotel and hospitality workers as well as those in the health care industry in some cities will see their hourly pay rates go up, starting on July 1.
Here’s are the new minimum hourly rates for general workers:
- LA County: $18.47
- City of LA: $18.42
- Santa Monica: $18.47
- Pasadena: $18.57
- Malibu: $17.91
Hotel and hospitality minimum wage per hour:
- City of LA, Santa Monica, Glendale: $25.00
- Long Beach: $26.50
- West Hollywood: $20.87
New minimum hourly rate for health care workers:
- Large hospitals, facilities with over 10,000 full-time employees: $25
- General: $23.00
- Clinics (ex. Urgent care): $22.00
- Independent rural hospitals: $19.28
Food and consumers
Food, beverage labeling: AB 660 seeks to standardize how goods are labeled with more specific phrasing of when the products are expected to expire. The new law will also promote grocery donations while reducing food waste, according to the bill’s authors.
- Best if used by or best if frozen by: the labeling is supposed to clearly indicate the window of peak product quality, taste or freshness.
- Use by or free by: the phrasing notes the hard deadline for high-risk food items.
- Sell-by dates will largely be banned.
- Wine: bottlers can note packaging dates.
- Deli/prepared foods: grocery stores are permitted to use a “packed on” label.
- Exemptions: infant formula, eggs, beer
Allergen disclosures: With AB 68, California becomes the first state in the nation to mandate large restaurant chains to disclose the most common food allergens to customers and diners — milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soybeans, fish, shellfish, sesame. The new law applies to chains with 20 or more locations nationwide, not mom-and-pop shops and small businesses.
School and students
Cellphone ban: Every school in the state should have a policy in place to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones by students on school campuses. AB 3216, also known as the Phone-Free Schools Act, aims to reduce classroom distractions and protect students’ mental health…