Minimum wage tops $10 an hour in San Francisco
Minimum wage of $10.24 took effect with new year. San Francisco has highest minimum wage in the nation.
In this photo taken last month, workers prepare for lunch in the kitchen at the Palio D'Asti restaurant in San Francisco. On New Year's Day, San Francisco made history by becoming the first city in the nation to mandate a minimum wage above $10.
Eric Risberg/AP/File
SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco is making history Sunday, becoming the first city in the nation requiring employers to pay more than $10 an hour to those earning minimum wage.
The increase to $10.24 from $9.92 an hour goes in effect with the new year.
The 32-cent hike comes after San Franciscans passed a proposition in 2003 requiring the employers in the city to increase the minimum wage each year, using a formula tied to inflation.
While minimum-wage employees welcome the increase, most say it still doesn't go far in a city with a high cost of living.
Some employers don't like the increase, saying they already have a heavy financial burden with federal, state and city payroll taxes, as well as a slew of other city-mandated taxes.