Published on
Starting July 1, healthcare organizations in California will begin paying employees according to new minimum wage rules under legislation signed into law in 2024. And for urgent care, the facility type makes a difference. Urgent cares affiliated with community clinics or rural health clinics must raise the minimum hourly pay from $21 to $22. For most urgent cares, however—operators that fall into the “all other covered healthcare facilities” category in the law—the minimum hourly pay will rise from $21 to $23. The law applies broadly to covered healthcare employees, not just clinical staff. Depending on the facility type and employee role, the new payment benchmark can include medical assistants, front-desk staff, technicians, cleaners, and maintenance personnel. The law takes a phased-in approach, so community-clinic-affiliated urgent cares will see wages rise again to $25 per hour on July 1, 2027. Most other urgent cares will begin paying a minimum of $25 per hour on July 1, 2028. From then on, the pay will be adjusted for inflation each year.
Wage scales: Many urgent cares in California already pay their workers more than the hourly minimum. However, a higher minimum wage can indirectly pressure employers to increase wages nonetheless to keep pace with the higher overall pay scale. Rising labor costs are among the leading challenges for urgent care, dragging down margins as reimbursement lags. Discover Urgent Care Compass, the go-to site where job hunters and hiring managers connect to accelerate career success, created exclusively by JUCM and the Urgent Care Association: Urgent Care Compass
Read More
- Urgent Care Pay to Start at $25 Per Hour Minimum in California
- The Legality of Docking the Pay of Urgent Care Employees
- Considerations for Urgent Care Operators on Equal Pay Legislation and Enforcement