Business owners brace for minimum wage hike

It’s official, California has enacted the nation’s highest statewide minimum wage of $15 an hour. Governor Brown signed the bill Monday in Los Angeles.

The increase will be implemented over the course of six years, but some business owners fear the increase will come with some challenges.

KION’s Brandon Castillo talked with the business owner of La Plaza Bakery on Monday. With six stores throughout Monterey County, and over 100 employees, some workers get paid $10.20 an hour. That’s 30 cents below the hourly rate that’s set to kick in next year.

But, it’s the $5 jump over the next six years that’s scaring Raul Rodriguez. He said they’ll need to become a lot more efficient to keep costs down.

“Businesses will adapt, but I don’t remember there being such a huge increase in recent history from $10 to $15,” Rodriguez said. “And boy, only time will tell.”

Rodriguez said the first step could be increasing the cost of food by 10 percent, or cutting back on the number of employees they hire.