San Jose’s faulty formula zeroed out pay increases for city contract workers

An obscure wage formula used by San Jose is getting an update — bringing a pay bump to some of the city’s lowest paid workers following a year when their wages didn’t rise at all.

Last week, the City Council unanimously approved changes to its “living wage” policy, a measure covering workers employed by companies that hold service contracts with San Jose intended to ensure their pay keeps pace with the city’s ever-rising cost of living. The change makes technical adjustments to the methodology for setting a minimum hourly wage floor for such workers. It also includes a one-time pay increase for workers that aims to bring the wage floor into line with where it would have been had it been adjusted appropriately last year.