As many states updated and increased their minimum wages over the past several years, a goodly number of them chose to tether future increases to the Consumer Price Index. California was one of those states with state law providing that should inflation increase by more than 7% over the prior fiscal year, then all employers would be required to meet the inflation-adjusted requirement. With current inflation rates at a 40-year high, it should be no surprise that the Governor Newsom administration projects inflation will have increased 7.6% by the June 30 end of the fiscal year, triggering a requirement that all employers regardless of size pay a minimum wage of $15.50 per hour beginning January 1, 2023. We’ll keep an eye out as other states will be reporting on similar annual increases over the coming months.