Minimum wage increases in 3 Bay Area cities today

EMERYVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- Starting Friday morning, anyone who makes minimum wage in San Francisco, Emeryville or Sunnyvale will be paid more than they were paid on Thursday.

The state minimum wage will reach $15 by 2022 and these Bay Area cities plan to reach that before the deadline.

READ STORY: Minimum wage in San Francisco to rise to $13 an hour

Emeryville is set to outpace the rest of the country with its minimum wage requirements. Today, small businesses must pay employees at least $13 an hour, larger businesses $14.82.

The wage will go up based on cost of living increases.

READ STORY: California enacts highest statewide minimum wage in US

Small businesses are required to pay a dollar more every year through 2019, when it will start at $16 an hour.

Minimum wage is a huge issue throughout the Bay Area.

Rents and home prices have skyrocketed and we've seen even low wage workers with full-time hours unable to make ends meet.

WATCH VIDEO: California's $15/hour wage could help workers, cost jobs

The argument against this has been that employers are concerned about staying competitive and might have to cut hours or cut staff to pay higher wages.

In San Francisco, minimum wage also increases to $13 on Friday. Down in the South Bay, it's now $11 in Sunnyvale.

READ STORY: Some South Bay business owners oppose $15 minimum wage hike

The Cities Association of Santa Clara County voted in favor of boosting minimum wage to $15 region-wide by 2019.

Now it's up to those 15 cities to decide if they want to adopt that recommendation or set their own dollar amount.

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