The current federal minimum wage, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), is $7.25 per hour which has been in effect since July 2009. States have the ability to set a rate that is higher than the federal minimum rate and employers are obligated to pay the higher rate. Currently, there are 29 states that have laws at the state or local level mandating higher pay than the federal rate.
On September 4, 2018, the Department of Labor published a Notice in the Federal Register to announce that, beginning January 1, 2019, the Executive Order 13658 minimum wage rate is increased to $10.60 per hour. This Executive Order minimum wage rate generally must be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered contracts. Additionally, beginning January 1, 2019, tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts generally must be paid a minimum cash wage of $7.40 per hour.
Voters across many states approved ballot measures to raise their state minimum rates over time, with increases occurring through 2020 and beyond. There are 19 states which have an increase that takes effect on December 31, 2018 or January 1, 2019, including: 1) Alaska, 2) Arizona, 3) Arkansas, 4) California, 5) Colorado, 6) Delaware, 7) Florida, 8) Maine, 9) Massachusetts, 10) Minnesota, 11) Missouri, 12) Montana, 13) New Jersey, 14) New York, 15) Ohio, 16) Rhode Island, 17) South Dakota, 18) Vermont, 19) Washington.
For more details, click on the following link to view the WageWatch Minimum Wage Chart with details of federal, state and local minimum wage increases: WageWatch – U.S. Minimum Wage Increases. In addition to the statewide minimum wage increase, multiple states have approved minimum wage increases that are higher than the statewide average. (The increases are referenced in the attached Excel spreadsheet). There is one state, Oregon, and the District of Columbia that have scheduled their wage increase to begin on July 1, 2019.
Although there are no statewide minimum wage increases, there are several states in which specific cities and/or counties which have wage increases scheduled to occur on 1/1/2019; these states include: Illinois, Maryland, and New Mexico.
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