ST. PAUL – A raise for the least-paid workers in Minnesota took effect on Friday, August 1.
The state legislature this year authorized the raise. The state’s largest employers (defined as any enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not less than $625,000) will have to now pay at least $8.00 an hour, up from $6.15. Next August 1, that wage bumps up to $9.00 an hour and then all the way to $9.50 an hour on August 1, 2016.
Small employers (defined as any enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is less than $625,000) have it a little easier. The old wage was $5.25 an hour, which bumped to $6.50 an hour on August 1. That wage bumps up to $7.25 an hour on August 1, 2015 and then to $7.75 an hour on August 1, 2016.
Minimum-wage rates apply to all hours worked, whether part time or full time. No employer may take a tip credit against minimum wages in Minnesota. An employee must be paid at least that minimum wage per hour plus any tips the employee might earn.
In 2018, the minimum wage will be tied to inflation. According to the US Bureau of Labor, $100 in 2014 is the same as $92.88 in 2010.
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