Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Law Takes Effect

The $25/hour statewide healthcare worker minimum wage law that we fought so hard for went into effect on October 16!

For years, SEIU-UHW members led the way in pushing for a $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers. When our employers threw everything into stopping it, we pushed back and won passage of the law (SB 525).

Then we pushed back AGAIN when we faced efforts to delay implementation until 2025. We used our political strength to keep up the pressure for the minimum wage law to go into effect on October 16 — and WE WON!

Raising wages for the lowest paid frontline healthcare workers is critical to addressing the staffing shortages in our facilities by encouraging experienced workers to stay in healthcare and attracting new workers.​​​​​​ This minimum wage law also helps raise the pay of healthcare workers who already earn more than $25/hour. By raising the wage floor, this new law puts pressure to raise wages across the board.

If you won a higher minimum wage in your SEIU-UHW contract with a faster rollout, this state law will not change your timeline — the minimum wage rollout in your contract remains intact.

Workers covered

SB 525 covers all healthcare workers who provide services that directly or indirectly support patient care, including contracted workers. This includes clinicians, nurses, certified nursing assistants, aides, technicians, maintenance workers, janitorial or housekeeping staff, groundskeepers, guards, food service workers, laundry workers, and pharmacists, but does not include managers or supervisors.

Four groups with timelines to $25 wage

Find out which group your employer is in.

Under the new law, health facilities are organized into four different groups, each with their own timeline to bring workers up to a $25/hour minimum wage. Once each of those tiers reaches $25 per hour, the minimum wage will be annually adjusted for inflation or 3.5%, whichever is less.

Group 1 — Large health systems and hospitals and all dialysis clinics

Facilities that have more than 10,000 full time equivalent employees or are part of an integrated health system with that many. All dialysis clinics.
50% of hospitals are included in this group

Timeline for minimum wage increases
By Oct. 16, 2024 — $23
July 2025 — $24
July 2026 — $25

Group 2 — Smaller health facilities

Facilities that have fewer than 10,000 full time equivalent employees, or are part of an integrated health system with fewer than 10,000.
40% of hospitals are included in this group

Timeline for minimum wage increases
By Oct. 16, 2024 — $21
July 2026 — $23
July 2028 — $25

Group 3 — Truly financially distressed

Hospitals with high Medi-Cal and Medicare payor patient populations (over 90%) and small rural independent hospitals.
Less than 10% of hospitals are in this group.

Timeline for minimum wage increases
By Oct. 16, 2024 — $18
July 2025 — Annual Increase of 3.5% until $25/hour is reached

Group 4 — Community clinics

All community and primary care clinics, including federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, free clinics and intermittent clinics.
Covers an estimated 100,000 workers.

Timeline for minimum wage increases
By Oct. 16, 2024 — $21
July 2026 — $22
July 2027 — $25

A historic achievement

The Healthcare Minimum Wage Law will lead to wage increases for more than 400,000 healthcare workers in California. It is the first $25 minimum wage in the country and also the first healthcare-specific minimum wage.

A real step forward in addressing short staffing in our facilities

For all the dedicated healthcare workers who are struggling to pay bills and support themselves and their families, higher pay will make a huge difference in their lives. Raising wages means that workers who were considering leaving can stay and new workers will be attracted by the higher base pay.

SEIU-UHW members made this happen

Starting in 2022, SEIU-UHW members led the way in pushing for a higher minimum wage for healthcare workers. We started by collecting signatures for city ballot initiatives and passed healthcare minimum wage laws in five cities. When four of them were put on hold by hospital executive-led referendum efforts, we took it to the state legislature with a statewide bill. Now our bill has become state law and gone into effect!

Paid for by Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers West.
560 Thomas L Berkley Way, Oakland, CA 94611.