Minimum Wage Increases for Minnesota Employees

Employers in the State of Minnesota, which was once known as the Bread-and-Butter State, must post an updated Minimum Wage notice with  minimum wage increases effective January 1, 2019. The notice has a revision date of October 2018.

Minnesota’s 2019 Minimum Wage Rates

For Large Employers

Large employers with annual gross revenues of $500,000 or more must pay their employees a minimum wage of $9.86 per hour.

For Small Employers

Small employers with annual gross revenues of less than $500,000 must pay their employees a minimum wage of $8.04 per hour.

For Training, Youth, & J-1 Visa Employees

The $8.04 per hour minimum wage rate also applies in the following circumstances:

  • Training wage – may be paid to 18- & 19-year-old employees during their first consecutive 90 days of employment
  • Youth wage – may be paid to employees who are 17 years old or younger
  • J-1 visa wage – may be paid to employees who work in hotels, motels, and other lodging and resort establishments under a summer work/travel Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa

Overtime Wages

The rules for overtime wages have not changed. Overtime is calculated at time and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay, which must be paid after 48 hours for small or state-covered employers, and after 40 hours for large and federally covered employers.

Employee Rights

As we reported last year, employers may not take adverse action against employees related to compensation and other privileges of employment for reporting a violation of a law or refusing to participate in any activity that is in violation of the law.

More Information About the Minimum Wage

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has provided a new website where additional information about the state’s minimum wage can be found: https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/employment-practices/minimum-wage-minnesota.

We Can Help You Stay in Compliance

If you have not already done so, we encourage you to order our 1-Year Compliance Plan, so that you will automatically receive the updated Minnesota poster as soon as it is available. And because we provide free poster updates for mandatory changes, no matter how many occur during the plan year, you can always count on Poster Compliance Center to keep you in compliance!