labor lawAdivision of labor law center

On January 1, 2008, Washington increased its minimum wage fourteen cents from $7.93 to $8.07 per hour. Washington’s minimum wage is the highest in the United State, and has been for seven consecutive years.

Tied for second place are California and Massachusetts, both with a January 1, 2008, state minimum wage of $8.00 per hour. Oregon raised its minimum, also, to $7.93 per hour.

Initiative 688, enacted in 1998 established an annual cost-of-living increase to Washington’s state minimum wage. The increase is calculated using the federal CPI (Consumer Price Index) for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which monitors prices of food, shelter, medical care and wages.

Unlike many other states, Washington’s minimum wage law applies to almost every employer in the state. Exceptions to the law include only non-profit volunteers, newspaper carriers and some agricultural employees. Washington employers can, however, legally pay workers under 16 less than minimum wage. For instance, a 14 year-old worker can be paid $6.86 per hour in 2008, of 85% of the minimum wage.

Washington is also one of the few states that doesn’t allow credit for tips. In Washington, waiters, waitresses and other tipped employees must be paid the state minimum of $8.07 per hour. Washington’s law gives tipped workers the highest minimum wage in the United States.

The federal minimum wage is currently $5.85 per hour. Many states have their own minimum wages laws. If an employee is eligible for both federal and state minimum, that worker is entitled to whichever provides the greater benefit. In Washington, since the state minimum is higher than the federal rate, the employee is entitled to the state minimum wage of $8.07 per hour.

Whenever minimum wage laws change, both state and federal, Washington employers must update their labor law posters. Updated information can be obtained from www.laborlawcenter.com, but an employer can also enlist a labor law poster service. Every times a law changes, this service automatically provides the employer with an updated poster.

California, Massachusetts, Vermont, and eleven other states increased their state minimum wage on January 1, 2008, but more wage increases are slated for 2008.

On July 1, 2008, five states will raise their minimum wage rates. Michigan’s minimum will jump 25 cents from $7.15 to $7.40 per hour. Illinois will see a 25 cent rise as well, from $7.50 per hour to $7.75 per hour.

West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania will see substantial increases in their state minimum wages on July 1, 2008, too. Pennsylvania’s minimum will rise 90 cents from $6.25 per hour to $7.15 per hour. Both Kentucky and West Virginia will establish minimum wage raises of 70 cents. West Virginia’s rate will go from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. Kentucky’s minimum will rise from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

Kentucky’s rise mirrors the federal minimum wage rate which will go from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008.

The year 2007 saw the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

On July 24, 2008, the second step of the Act’s system will go into effect and the federal minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

A number of states, such as Maryland, Indiana and Virginia, will increase their state minimum wage rates on the same day the federal minimum increase goes into effect. These states either mirror the federal rate, or tie their increases to timing of the raises for the federal minimum.

The District of Columbia ties its minimum wage to the federal wage, too, but with a difference. In D.C., the minimum wage is required to be at least $1.00 per hour greater than the federal minimum. On July 24, 2008, then, D.C.’s minimum will jump to $7.55 per hour.

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