Ohio minimum wage increases in January

Submitted information

Ohio’s minimum wage is scheduled to automatically increase on January 1, 2015, to $8.10 per hour for non-tipped employees and to $4.05 per hour for tipped employees. The increased minimum wage will apply to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $297,000 per year.

The current 2014 Ohio minimum wage is $7.95 per hour for non-tipped employees and $3.98 for tipped employees.  The 2014 Ohio minimum wage applies to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $292,000 per year.

The constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in November 2006 states that Ohio’s minimum wage shall increase on January 1 of each year by the rate of inflation. The state minimum wage is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the 12-month period prior to September. The CPI index rose 1.6 percent over the 12-month period from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2014. The amendment also states that the wage rate for non-tipped employees shall be rounded to the nearest 5 cents.

The constitutional amendment is available online:

www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm?Part=2&Section=34a

For employees at smaller companies (with annual gross receipts of $292,000 or less per year in 2014 or $297,000 or less per year after January 1, 2015) and for 14- and 15-year-olds, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. For these employees, the state wage is tied to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour that requires an act of Congress and the President’s signature to change.

Information on Ohio’s 2015 minimum wage is available online:

http://www.com.ohio.gov/documents/dico_2015MinimumWageposter.pdf.