Annual minimum wage increases kick in on Jan. 1, 2014, giving employers in many states just a few short weeks to get payroll practices in order before new minimum wage requirements take effect.
As of press time, minimum wages in 14 states are slated to increase in 2014. Most are effective Jan. 1, but at least one state, California, won’t see its wages increase until July. Many of those states have statutes in place that mandate an annual increase in minimum wages, and most of them are already above the Fair Labor Standard Act’s federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25.
State Minimum Wages
The FLSA sets a federal minimum wage, but it does not preclude states from setting their own rates. When state minimum wages fall below the federal rate, the higher FLSA wage takes precedent. However, states may set a higher minimum wage than the FLSA does, and in those cases the higher wage also takes precedent.
Generally when state and federal laws are at odds the provision that is considered more beneficial for employees must be followed.
Minimum wage rates will be raised in 2014 by the following states:
- Arizona: from $7.80 to $7.90;
- California: from $8.00 to $9.00 (effective July 1, 2014);
- Colorado: from $7.78 to $8.00 (if proposed minimum wage order is adopted Jan. 1);
- Connecticut: from $8.25 to $8.70;
- Florida: from $7.79 to $7.93;
- Missouri: from $7.35 to $7.50;
- Montana: from $7.80 to $7.90;
- New Jersey: from $7.25 to $8.25;
- New York: from $7.25 to $8.00;
- Ohio: from $7.85 to $7.95;
- Oregon: from $8.95 to $9.10;
- Rhode Island: from $7.75 to $8.00;
- Vermont: from $8.60 to $8.73; and
- Washington: from $9.19 to $9.32.
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington all have statutes requiring annual reviews of the minimum wage. Most of those states will increase minimum wages in 2014, with the exception of Nevada, which currently has a minimum wage of $8.25. Because of how the Nevada statute is written the state’s annual review of the state minimum wage in April every year does not always result in an increase.
New Jersey voters passed a minimum wage bill that raised its rate by $1.00 and changed the state constitution to peg future rates to inflation.
For more information about pending state minimum wage increases, see full article here, or consult Thompson’s minimum wage library, here.