What Is The Living Wage?
The term Living Wage refers to the minimum hourly wage necessary for a person to achieve a higher standard of living.
Santa Fe's Living Wage
The City of Santa Fe Living Wage Ordinance was adopted to establish minimum hourly wages.
Effective March 1, 2023, all employers are required to pay employees an hourly wage of $14.03 per hour. This includes part-time and temporary employees.
Tips are counted as wages and credited towards satisfaction of the minimum wage. As long as a worker is receiving the hourly minimum wage, whether through tips, salary, or a combination of both, the employer is in compliance with the Living Wage Ordinance.
The March 1, 2023, Living Wage increase is in accordance with City Ordinance and corresponds to the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Western Region for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. All employers required to have a business license or registration from the City must pay at least the adjusted 2023 Living Wage to employees for all hours worked within the Santa Fe city limits.
Who Is Affected?
The City of Santa Fe shall pay the minimum wage to all full-time permanent workers employed by the City. Contractors for the City who have a contract requiring the performance of a service, including construction services but excluding purchases of goods, shall pay the minimum wage to their workers and subcontractors performing work under the contract if the total contract amount with the City is, or by way of amendment becomes, equal to or greater than thirty thousand dollars. Businesses receiving assistance relating to economic development in the form of grants, subsidies, loan guarantees, or industrial revenue bonds in excess of twenty-five thousand dollars to those employed by such entity for the duration of the City grant or subsidy shall pay the minimum wage to their workers for all hours worked within the City of Santa Fe. Businesses required to have a business license or business registration from the City of Santa Fe and nonprofit organizations shall pay the minimum wage to their workers for all hours worked within the City of Santa Fe that month.
Additional Information
For more information, download the following documents or contact Constituent Services by email at constituentservices@santafenm.gov or by phone at 505-955-6949.
Call Constituent Services at 505-955-6949 to file a complaint.
Previous years' Living Wage amounts listing.
The effective date for the annual Living Wage increase is March 1. Below are the Living Wage amounts from the last 12 years.
2012 10.30
2013 10.51
2014 10.66
2015 10.84
2016 10.91
2017 11.09
2018 11.40
2019 11.80
2020 12.10
2021 12.32
2022 12.95
2023 14.03
Base Wage For Tipped & Commissioned Employees
Section 28-1.5(C) - For workers who customarily receive more than one hundred dollars ($100.00) per month in tips or commissions, any tips or commissions received and retained by a worker shall be counted as wages and credited towards satisfaction of the minimum wage provided that, for tipped workers, all tips received by such workers are retained by the workers, except that the pooling of tips among workers shall be permitted.
Workers who "customarily receive" more than $100 per month in tips must still receive the minimum hourly wage in the City, so if they aren't earning enough in tips, the employer must pay them enough to make up the difference.