A deal between lawmakers and unions that would raise California’s minimum wage on a slower timetable, to $10.50 an hour next year and $15 by 2022, rather than the fast-tracked $15 minimum wage originally proposed, is nonetheless creating some uncertainty amongst workers and employers alike. While workers greeted the news with relief, with many working multiple jobs in order to afford rent and essentials, others are anxious as they contemplate what their employers might do in order to cut costs. Employers in the slim-profit margin restaurant industry, for example, will have to raise wages for their tipped staff, who may already be earning up to $35 an hour with tips. Other staff who already earn $15 an hour may be demanding wage increases given their colleagues are being given raises. Restaurants may have to raise prices, as well as re-think their menus in order to hire fewer staff.
See "News of a minimum wage hike deal in California is met with relief -- and anxious arithmetic", Ruben Vives, Victoria Kim, Shan Li and Frank Shyong, LA Times, March 28, 2016