WESTWOOD—Due to a change in University of California policy, UCLA will be complying with Los Angeles’ upcoming minimum wage increase.
The policy, released by the University of California Office of the President in April, requires that every UC campus comply with federal, state and local minimum wage provisions.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, as established in 2009. California’s minimum wage is currently $9 an hour, as of July 2014, and is set to increase to $10 an hour on January 1, 2016.
The Los Angeles minimum wage will also move from $9 to $10 an hour along with the rest of the state in 2016. The law signed by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on June 12 will increase the local minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
After the dollar increase on January 1, the city wage will increase again, this time by 50 cents, in July 2016. At that time, Los Angeles will become the eighth California city to set a minimum wage above $10 an hour.
According to UCLA spokesperson Rebecca Kendall, this may not be a drastic change for most UCLA workers. Many full-time career positions already pay $15 an hour, and an estimated 95 percent of part-time non-career positions pay more than minimum wage.
Associated Students UCLA, a student-controlled non-profit organization that provides student union and retail services to the campus, will raise its minimum wage to $10.25 in January 2016 in preparation for the citywide increase in July. ASUCLA Executive Director Bob Williams reports that most ASUCLA jobs will already have a starting wage of $10.75.
Though there are practical concerns about how to budget for the city-led increases, many believe it will ultimately increase the campus work force, as it will encourage students to look for jobs on campus rather than search elsewhere.
