With the first set of minimum wage increases taking effect recently on July 11th, are San Diego businesses prepared for the challenges that will come along with it?

The new law requires companies to pay employees earning minimum wage at least $10.50 per hour along with mandatory sick days each year. Under the ordinance, the minimum wage will increase another $.50 by January 2017 and then increase by $1 each subsequent year for the next 4 years, beginning January 1, 2018.

At Benchmark, our goal is to make this transition as seamless and stress-free as possible by maintaining strong partnerships and consistent communication with our clients. As a company, we’re preparing internally for the increases now and long-term, as well as educating our clients on how it will impact their commercial landscaping services going forward. Like other companies across San Diego, Benchmark will be forced to incur the added costs associated with the wage changes, from workers pay to undoubtedly increased costs in plant materials and supplies, and then adjust pricing for maintenance and new installations accordingly. Unfortunately as a result, we’re anticipating rates to clients to increase somewhat as well.

By setting expectations initially and planning for the minimum wage fluctuations over the next several years, we hopefully can alleviate budget concerns for our clients with long-term partnerships and contracts, and continue building successful relationships for years to come.