$15 Minimum Wage Goes into Effect for Small Businesses in LA

Supporters carry signs to raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles as they listen to Mayor Eric Garcetti during an announcement at the Martin Luther King Jr. Park with a coalition of business, labor, community, and faith leaders from across the city on Sept. 1, 2014. Garcetti announced his proposal to raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles from the current $9 an hour to $15 in 2020. Richard Vogel/AP

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A $15 minimum wage went into effect for small businesses in Los Angeles July 1after being gradually phased in for businesses since being approved in 2015.

The law was approved on a 14-1 vote by the City Council on May 14, 2015, and the minimum wage increase from $9 to $15 took place gradually over a five-year period. Last year, the law went into effect for large businesses, but smaller businesses had until today to begin giving workers a minimum of $15 per hour.