SOME of the lowest-paid healthcare workers in California got a pay rise today under a state law that will gradually increase their wages to at least $25 an hour (around £19).

Workers at rural, independent healthcare facilities will start making a minimum of $18 an hour (£14) while others at hospitals with at least 10,000 full-time employees will begin getting paid at least $23 an hour (£18) this week. 

The law will increase workers’ pay over the next decade, with the $25 hourly rate kicking in sooner for some than others.

Around 350,000 workers are set to benefit from the new law. 

Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law last year and workers had been due to get raises in June but the law was delayed to help close an estimated $46.8 billion (£36bn) budget shortfall.

Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, said last year that the law “strikes the right balance between significantly improving wages while protecting jobs and safeguarding care at community hospitals throughout the state.”

Sarah Bridge, vice-president of advocacy and strategy with the Association of California Healthcare Districts, said the law “obviously does create financial pressures that weren’t there before. But our members are all poised and ready to enact the change.”