Carpinteria City Council increases junior lifeguard pay amid lifeguard shortage

CARPINTERIA, Calif. – The Carpinteria City Council on Monday approved a 5% pay increase for junior lifeguard instructors amid a shortage that caused more than 100 children to be waitlisted for the city's Junior Lifeguard Program.

The council held a special meeting on Monday to approve the new pay, which was in response to a May 23 meeting where staff highlighted the challenges of recruiting and hiring staff to fill the lifeguard positions and parents expressed their frustration about the long waitlists that their kids sat on due to the shortage.

The lifeguard instructor's pay increased from $15.91 per hour to a starting hourly rate of $20.10 an hour, and instructors have the opportunity to earn up to a maximum of $24.43 an hour, according to City Clerk Brian Barrett.

The pay increase is an attempt to incentivize more people to apply for the position and other seasonal positions that the city recruits between May and June.

"lt is a challenge to recruit during these months because the city also competes with other public agencies in the area who are hiring for similar positions," staff wrote in the staff report.

The pay increases were effective for the first full pay period in June.