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The city of San Diego (the city) enacted a minimum wage ordinance (the MWO) that requires you to pay any employee who works at least two hours in one calendar week within the geographic boundaries of the city at the local minimum wage rate (the San Diego minimum wage).1
You can find more information regarding the MWO at the city's website. You may also contact the city’s Minimum Wage Program by phone at (619) 615-1565, or by email at SDMinWage@sandiego.gov.
You can find the current San Diego minimum wage on the city's website.
A covered employee (employee) under the MWO is any employee who:
You must pay employees at least the San Diego minimum wage for each hour worked in San Diego. The San Diego minimum wage applies to employees working in San Diego, regardless of where the employer is located or whether the employee is a San Diego resident.3
You may reduce the wages paid employees to offset the cost for housing and meals, if those offsets are otherwise permitted under state law. There must be a prior voluntary agreement between you and the employee for the offset to be allowed. For more information, see Meals and Lodging.4
You do not need to pay the San Diego minimum wage to individuals who are not entitled to the state minimum wage. For more information on these types of employees, see Minimum Wage.
You can find additional information regarding application of the MWO in a Frequently Asked Questions document.The MWO requires you to post an official, city-provided notice, specifying the minimum wage and describing employee rights. The city will publish this notice in English, Spanish and all other languages in which the city’s ballot materials are provided. You must display the city-provided notice in all languages spoken by at least five percent of the employees at each of your business locations. You are not responsible for displaying the city-provided notice in languages not provided by the city. The notices must be posted in a conspicuous place at all locations where employees work.5
In addition, you must display the California Minimum Wage Order, which can be found on CalChamber’s California and Federal Labor Law posters.
At the time of hire, you must provide employees, your company's name, address and telephone number in writing. If any of this information changes you must provide your employees updated information within 10 days of the change.6 The city has not specified what the employer’s requirements means, but it has provided a compliant template notice for your use.7 The notice must be in English and in the employee’s primary language, if the city provides a translated San Diego Minimum Wage Official Notice in that language.8
State law also requires you to provide Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) at the time of hire to all nonexempt employees that includes this information and meets the obligation under the MWO.9 More information about the notice can be found at New Employee Orientation.
You also are required to retain payroll records pertaining to employees for a period of three years. The Enforcement Official working on behalf of the city must be allowed to access these records.10
If you do not keep adequate records documenting wages paid, or you do not allow the Enforcement Official reasonable access to payroll records, the employee’s account of how much they were paid will be presumed to be accurate. You will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.
The MWO is enforced by an Enforcement Official on behalf of the Office of the City Treasury or other department designated by the Mayor.11 The Enforcement Official may conduct investigations and take administrative action to enforce the MWO.12
If the Enforcement Official determines that an employer has violated the MWO, in addition to requiring back pay and other damages owed the employee, the Enforcement Official may assess a fine, payable to the city, of between $500 and $1,000 for each day, or part of a day, if an employer fails to provide an employee with the San Diego minimum wage. The Enforcement Official may assess a fine of $500, with a maximum fine of $2,000, for each employee who was not given the required notice and a fine of up to $3,000 may be assessed if the Enforcement Official determines the employer retaliated against an employee. For more information, see “Retaliation” on this page.
An employer who has not previously violated the MWO cannot be fined any more than $10,000 for all violations of the MWO. The Enforcement Official will increase the fine by 50 percent for each subsequent violation within three years.13 An employer has the right to an administrative hearing to contest the Enforcement Official’s determinations.14
In addition, aggrieved employees or the city may file a civil lawsuit for any violation of the MWO.15
Remedies for violations of the Ordinance may include back pay; reinstatement; attorney’s fees and costs; and an additional amount of double the back wages withheld (called “liquidated damages” in the MWO). Where an employer has retaliated against an employee, the “liquidated damages” are the greater of double back wages and $1000, or $3000 in the case of retaliation involving termination.16 For more information, see "Retaliation" on this page.
The California Labor Commissioner also has the authority to investigate and enforce local minimum wage and overtime provisions, including such provisions in the MWO, and to issue citations and penalties against employers for violations. However, the Labor Commissioner and the city cannot both cite the employer for the same violation.
Employees who assert their rights under the MWO are protected against retaliation.17 For example, employees have the right to complain to their employer that they are not being paid the San Diego minimum wage; file formal complaints; inform other employees of their right to the San Diego minimum wage; or to assist other employees in asserting their rights.
If an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days after the employee asserted rights protected by the MWO, it will be presumed this action was retaliation. The employer will have to offer evidence to rebut this presumption.
1. San Diego Mun. Code secs. 39.0104, 39.0107
2. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0107 (b)(3); Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance Frequently Asked Questions, No. 3
3. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0107(a)
4. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0107(c)
5. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0108(a), (b)
6. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0108(c)
7. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0108(a)(3)
8. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0108(c)
9. Lab. Code sec. 2810.5
10. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0109
11. San Diego Mun. Code secs. 39.0104, 39.0113
12. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0113(a)
13. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0112(c)
14. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0113(g)
15. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0112(a)
16. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0112(b)
17. San Diego Mun. Code sec. 39.0111