On Wednesday, October 23, the Los Angeles City Council's Economic, Community Development, and Jobs Committee unanimously voted to advance a proposal to the full City Council that would raise the minimum wage for hotel and airport workers to $25 per hour by February 1, with a gradual increase to $30 per hour by 2028. Further, the proposal would require employers to provide hotel workers a minimum healthcare benefit payment at the rate of $8.35 per hour starting on July 1, 2025. The $25 minimum wage for hotel workers would only be applicable for employer hotels with 60 or more rooms.
If approved by the City Council, the city attorney would be requested to amend the Living Wage Ordinance, which regulates wages for airport workers, and the Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, which regulates wages for hotel workers. Importantly, the minimum wage increases in this proposal would also impact tipped employees, subcontractors, vendors and tenants. Any company that employs Hotel Workers to provide services at a Hotel in conjunction with the Hotel's purpose, including a third-party housekeeping service or a restaurant operations providing food and, is also subject to the minimum wage increase.
For hotels and airport employers that are covered by the law, the only exemption from compliance with the mandated wage rates is a collective bargaining agreement that explicitly waives the provisions of the ordinance or, for hotel employers, a one-year waiver from the city if the hotel can demonstrate that compliance with the ordinance would force the hotel into objective financial hardship.
This proposal was initially brought by a City Council member in April 2023, and following a report by the City Council's chief legislative analyst examining the potential economic impacts of the proposal, the Economic, Community Development, and Jobs Committee finally moved the proposed law ahead. The City Council has not set a date for a vote on the law, but we will continue to monitor the docket and will send out an alert should there be any updates. Information pertaining to the law on the Los Angeles city clerk's website can be found here.
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