The new minimum wage law:
- Increases the minimum wage to $9.45 in 2019 and then increases it again each year, reaching $12.05 by 2030;
- Maintains a tipped-employee wage rate of 38 percent of the full minimum wage rate; and
- Provides an increase to $4.58 per hour for tipped employees by 2030.
The new paid medical leave law:
- Accrues paid medical leave at a rate of at least one hour of leave for every 35 hours worked, which is the average accrual rate of the 10 states that have paid medical leave laws;
- Allows for the carryover of 40 hours of paid medical leave per year, which is the same rate as eight of the 10 states with paid medical leave laws and is much higher than the 24 hours that can carry over in California;
- Requires an employer to provide an employee at least three days to present the employer with documentation when taking paid sick leave, which is consistent with eight of the 10 states with paid medical leave laws, and better than the other two states that immediately require a doctor’s note;
- Establishes that employees can immediately began accruing and using paid medical leave upon the effective date of the act (except for new employees, who must wait 90 days), which is consistent with six other states with paid medical leave and better than three states that require longer waiting periods; and
- Requires employers to pay each eligible employee using paid medical leave at a pay rate equal to the greater of either their normal hourly wage or base wage for that eligible employee or the full minimum-wage rate. If a tipped worker’s hourly pay is less than minimum wage, their paid sick time will be paid at a level that is at least the non-tipped employee minimum wage.
