Minimum Wage

At its Regular meeting on March 28, 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 404 establishing a Minimum Wage covering all employees working within the Malibu city limits, regardless of immigration or work status. The ordinance became effective on July 1, 2016.

The ordinance established Malibu Municipal Code (MMC) Chapter 5.36 with the purpose of avoiding wage discrepancies between Malibu and neighboring jurisdictions, keeping Malibu competitive in the job market, helping to ensure that workers in Malibu are paid adequate living wages, and preventing workers from leaving Malibu for higher paying jobs, which also helps reduce traffic on local streets and Pacific Coast Hwy.

Cost of Living Increase

Minimum Wage Effective July 1, 2023 = $16.90 per hour

Starting in 2022, the minimum wage for all employers within the city limits will include an annual cost of living adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and will become effective on July 1 of that year.

In 2023, the City's minimum wage increases to $16.90 effective July 1, 2023, which includes a 5.9% cost of living adjustment.

The annual cost of living increase is based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI 12-month percent change for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted, in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim statistical region for November (the most recently posted CPI available on January 1). The new CPI-increased wage will become effective on July 1 of that year.

Minimum Wage Poster

A City of Malibu Minimum Wage Ordinance poster is available for download to all Malibu employers, and should be displayed in the same conspicuous and accessible place at all job sites where mandated federal and state labor postings are required to be displayed. The 2023 poster will be available prior to the July 1 effective date.

Origins of Malibu's Minimum Wage

The ordinance originally established a tiered schedule for increases to the minimum wage based on the size of the employer company. 

For all employers with 26 or more employees, annual increases began in 2016, culminating in a $15.00 per hour wage in 2019.

The ordinance provided a one-year delay for employers with 25 or fewer employees, so increases for those employers began July 1, 2017, and increased annually according to the same schedule until reaching $15.00 per hour in 2021.