City Council Meeting: June 9, 2026 Santa Monica, California ORDINANCE NUMBER _________ (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA TO AMEND CHAPTER 4.63, HOTEL WORKER LIVING WAGE, RELATED TO REGIONAL
ALIGNMENT FOR WAGES AND HEALTH BENEFITS
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica, host to millions of visitors annually, has a long history of supporting its tourism and hospitality industries as well as supporting the wellbeing and rights of workers in those establishments; and WHEREAS, on January 26, 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2509 (CCS), adding Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapters 4.62, requiring a minimum wage for employees, Chapter 4.63, requiring a living wage for hotel workers, and Chapter
4.65, Living Wage, requiring a living wage for certain City contractors; and WHEREAS, on May 10, 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number 2515 (CCS), which, in part amended portions of Chapter 4.63 to provide for regional wage alignment by matching the hourly wage set for hotel workers in the City of Los Angeles, and required notice to employees related to one-year waivers for certain hotels as contemplated under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.62.020; and WHEREAS, although Ordinance 2515 implemented regional alignment with respect to hotel worker living wages, one notable distinction between Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.63 and the Los Angeles Citywide Hotel Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance is that a “hotel” under the City of Los Angeles’s ordinance is any hotel with at least 60 guest rooms, and a “hotel” under Santa Monic Municipal Code Chapter 4.63 is any hotel regardless of size; and
WHEREAS, on May 26, 2026 the City of Los Angeles adopted Ordinance Number 288944 revising wage and health benefit provisions for hotel workers in the City of Los Angeles that are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026; and WHEREAS, Ordinance Number 188944 sets forth a schedule for wages to increase to $30/hour by July 1, 2030; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance Number 188944 further sets forth a schedule for a separate health care benefits payment commencing on July 1, 2026; and WHEREAS, Chapter 4.63 does not cleanly account for the separate health care benefits payment that is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, and it does not contain an exemption for smaller hotels as the City of Los Angeles’s does; and WHEREAS, these inconsistencies need to be clarified in order to provide certainty in wages for both hotel workers and hotel employers; and WHEREAS, the City of Los Angeles provides an exemption for hotels with 60 rooms or fewer; and
WHEREAS, the City maintains its commitment to improve the welfare of the City’s workers, particularly those in low-wage positions, by supporting fair employment practices and ensuring that workers receive decent compensation for the work they perform and the services provided, and ensuring that workers are able to take time off work to care for themselves or family members.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.63.010 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 4.63.010. Definitions.
As used in this Chapter:
(a) “City” means the City of Santa Monica.
(b) “Health care benefits” means health coverage, dental, vision, mental health, and disability income. Health care benefits does not include retirement benefits, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, life insurance and other benefits that do not provide medical or health related coverage.
(c)(b) “Hotel” means a residential building that is designated or used for lodging and other related services for the public, and containing 60 or more guest rooms or suites of rooms. “Hotel” also includes any contracted, leased or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with the building's purpose, or providing services at the building. “Hotel” does not include hostels, which is defined as any lodging facility that is primarily characterized by dormitory-style accommodations, shared bathrooms, and reservations of beds rather than rooms.
(d)(c) “Hotel employer” means any person, including a corporate officer or executive, association, organization, partnership, business trust, and limited liability company or corporation, who owns, controls, and/or operates a Hotel in the City, or a person who owns, controls, and/or operates any contracted, leased or sublet premises connected to or operated in conjunction with the Hotel's purpose, or a person who provides services at the Hotel.
(e)(d) “Hotel worker” means any individual whose primary place of employment is at one or more Hotels and who is employed directly by the Hotel Employer, or by a person who has contracted with the Hotel Employer to provide services at the Hotel. “Hotel Worker” does not include a managerial, supervisory or confidential employee. (f)(e) “Service charge” means any separately-designated amount charged and collected by an Employer from customers, that is for service by Employees, or is described in such a way that customers might reasonably believe that the amount is for those services or is otherwise to be paid or payable directly to Employees, including those charges designated on receipts, invoices, or billing statements under the term “service charge,” “table charge,” “porterage charge,” “automatic gratuity charge,” “healthcare surcharge,” “benefits surcharge,” or similar language. Service Charge does not include a tip or gratuity as defined under State or federal law.
SECTION 2. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.63.015 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 4.63.015. Minimum wage payment requirements.
(a) Hotel Employers shall pay Hotel Workers a wage of no less than the hourly rates set under this section.
(b) If a Hotel Employer provides a Hotel Worker with health benefits as provided in Section 4.36.017 of this Chapter, the Hotel Worker shall be paid the following:
(1) Beginning on July 1, 2025, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $22.50 per hour.
(2) Beginning on July 1, 2026, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $25.00 per hour.
(3) Beginning on July 1, 2027, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $25.50 per hour.
(4) Beginning on July 1, 2028, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $28.50 per hour.
(5) Beginning on July 1, 2029, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $29.00 per hour.
(6) Beginning on January 1, 2030, the wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be no less than $30.00 per hour.
(7) Beginning on July 1, 2030, and annually thereafter on July 1, the hourly wage rate for a Hotel Worker shall be adjusted higher by a percentage equal to the percentage increase, if any, in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, as measured from January to December of the preceding year. (b) The minimum wage for each Hotel Worker shall be as follows:
(1) On July 1, 2016, the hourly wage shall be $13.25; and (2) On July 1, 2017, and annually thereafter, the hourly wage shall match the hourly wage set for Hotel Workers in the City of Los Angeles. (c) Beginning on July 1, 2026, if a Hotel Employer does not provide a Hotel Worker with health care benefits as provided in Section 4.63.017 of this Chapter, the Hotel Worker shall be paid the applicable wage rate in subsection (b) of this Section and an additional wage rate equal to the health care benefits payment in effect pursuant to Section
4.36.017.
(cd) The City shall announce the adjusted rates annually each February January 1st, or within two weeks of the release of the prior year’s CPI-W, whichever is later, and publish a bulletin announcing the adjusted rates, which shall take effect on July 1st of each year.
SECTION 3. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.63.017 is hereby added to read as follows:
Section 4.63.017. Health care benefits.
(a) Unless exempt under section (b), below, a Hotel Employer shall provide a Hotel Worker a payment towards the provision of health care benefits for the Hotel Worker and dependents (“health care benefits payment”) equal to the following amounts:
(1) Beginning July 1, 2026, the health care benefits payment shall be equal to at least $4.25 per hour.
(2) Beginning July 1, 2027, the health care benefits payment shall be equal to at least $6.00 per hour.
(3) Beginning July 1, 2028, the health care benefits payment shall be equal to at least $8.35 per hour as adjusted by a percentage equal to the percentage increase, if any, in the California Department of Managed Healthcare's Large Group Aggregate Rates (LGAR) report, as measured from January to December of the preceding year. The City shall announce the adjusted rate on April 1, 2028, or within two weeks of the release of the prior year’s LGAR report, whichever is later, and publish a bulletin announcing the adjusted rate, which shall take effect on July 1, 2028. (4) Beginning on July 1, 2029, and annually thereafter each July 1, the health care benefits payment shall be adjusted higher by a percentage equal to the percentage increase, if any, in the California Department of Managed Healthcare's Large Group Aggregate Rates (LGAR) report, as measured from January to December of the preceding year. The City shall announce the adjusted rates annually each April 1st, or within two weeks of the release of the prior year’s LGAR report, whichever is later, and publish a bulletin announcing the adjusted rates, which shall take effect on July 1st of each year.
(b) Hotel employers that provide health care benefits for hotel workers shall be exempt from providing health care benefits payments. Hotel Employers shall keep proof of the provision of such health care benefits on file at the Hotel, and such proof shall be provided to the City Attorney’s Office upon request.
(c) If the Hotel Employer’s hourly health care benefit payment is less than that required under this article, the difference shall be paid to the Hotel Worker as an additional hourly wage.
(d) Health care benefits payments are not required to be paid on overtime hours.
SECTION 4. Any provision of the Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 5. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 6. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________
HEIDI VON TONGELN
City Attorney