San Diego Minimum Wage and Sick Leave: Why City Limits Matter, and Where to Complain

The City of San Diego minimum wage is $17.75 an hour in 2026 and rises to $18.35 on January 1, 2027. It covers adult and minor employees who work at least two hours in a week inside city limits, not everyone in San Diego County. Elsewhere in the county, the general state rate is $16.90 in 2026, with higher rates for covered industries or work in a city with a higher local minimum. The city’s Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement takes complaints under the city law.

The city rate and who it covers

San Diego voters approved the Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance in 2016, and the rate has risen every year since 2019 with the cost of living. The city’s rate table shows $17.75 from January 1, 2026, and $18.35 from January 1, 2027.

The ordinance applies to adult and minor employees who work two or more hours in any work week within the city’s geographic boundaries. The city attorney’s announcement of the 2027 rate adds that the ordinance applies to all industries and businesses, with no exceptions, and that tips and gratuities do not count toward the minimum wage. A server cannot be paid less than the city rate on the theory that tips make up the difference.

Some workers have separate rates. The city also enforces a separate hospitality minimum wage for eligible workers at covered hospitality employers, including large hotels, event centers and amusement parks, and a minimum wage for traffic-control workers, according to its Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement.

Outside city limits

The city rate stops at the city line. Chula Vista, El Cajon, Escondido, Oceanside and the county’s unincorporated areas are outside it, and the general state rate applies unless a higher local or covered-industry rate governs. The state Labor Commissioner lists $16.90 an hour for 2026, and the city attorney’s release says the state rate rises to $17.40 on January 1, 2027.

The test is where the work is performed. A worker who spends at least two hours a week on job sites inside the City of San Diego is covered for that work even if the employer is based in another city. Keep a log of where each shift was worked.

Earned sick leave

Covered employees earn sick leave under the city ordinance, either by accrual or through a front-loaded amount. The city attorney’s release says the leave can be used for the reasons the ordinance lists, including the employee’s own medical care or a family member’s, and that an employer may limit use to 40 hours in a benefit year. For workers covered by state paid sick leave law, employers must allow at least five days or 40 hours of use a year, whichever is more, if the worker has that leave available. The more generous state or local benefit controls.

Checking your pay

San Diego’s rate changes on January 1, not July 1 as in Los Angeles. Compare the hourly rate on each pay stub with the rate in effect for those dates, and look at the first paycheck of each year, when an old rate is most likely to linger. Every employer must also post the city’s current notice in a conspicuous place at the workplace or job site, according to the city attorney, and a missing or outdated notice is worth noting in a complaint.

How to complain

The Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement investigates complaints, conducts compliance reviews and coordinates enforcement. It now works within the City Attorney’s Office. Complaints can be filed online, by email at SDMinWage@sandiego.gov, by phone at 619-235-5912, or by mail to 1200 Third Ave., Ste. 900, MS CCP9-CD, San Diego, CA 92101. Filing is free.

The city attorney says retaliation is illegal and that violations can bring penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, along with back wages, liquidated damages, reinstatement and other relief. If hours were cut or a job lost after a complaint, record the dates; retaliation for asserting rights under the ordinance is itself a violation.

Claims under state law

The city office enforces city ordinances. Unpaid overtime, final pay and most other wage claims arise under state law and can be filed with the state Labor Commissioner through its wage-claim process. Its San Diego office is at 7575 Metropolitan Dr., Room 210, and it also has an office in El Centro, at 1550 W. Main St. One pay problem can involve both a city claim and a state claim.