SANTA MONICA—A new ordinance went into effect on Sunday, January 1 for Santa Monica employees which include paid sick leave and a rise in minimum wage, with annual increases until the year 2020.

In July 2016, the minimum wage increased from $10 to $10.50 in Santa Monica. In 2017, the minimum wage will rise to $12 per hour for Santa Monica employees and by July 2020 the minimum wage will reach $15 per hour for employees.

With the new Santa Monica minimum wage ordinance, thousands of low-wage workers will receive higher wages and will receive additional sick leave benefits, according to the city of Santa Monica website.

For the paid sick leave provisional, both part-time, full-time and temporary employees in Santa Monica can earn up to 32 paid sick leave hours for small businesses or 40 paid sick leave hours for larger businesses. Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work.

The new ordinance states employers are not obligated to pay any unused sick leave for their employees at the end of employment. Workers are able to use paid sick leave within 90 days of their employment.

“Santa Monica cares about the health and safety of its workers and part of that is giving hard working people the right to time away when they are sick. This is something many of us take for granted, but for a large group of workers, missing a day on the job hasn’t been an option until now,” said Santa Monica Mayor Tony Vazquez. “We worked closely with workers and businesses to develop a law that is fair.”