A Family-Owned Business Braces for California’s Minimum Wage Hike

SAN DIEGO—Elvin Lai has been in the hospitality business his entire life.

The San Diego hotel where he serves as chief executive officer has been in his family for four generations, and Lai can rattle off childhood memories of his younger years spent at the beachfront property.

Lai asked that his hotel name not be published to protect his business.

The young business owner cleaned his first hotel room when he was just 6 years old, and Lai spent summers running guests’ luggage to their rooms.

Today, Lai oversees all operations at the hotel, and it’s his hope it will remain in his family for another four generations.

However, a new proposal in San Diego to raise the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour next year, coupled with California’s new law raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, has left Lai wondering how the hotel will survive increased labor costs.

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