Minimum Wage Increase for Vermont Employees

The State of Vermont is known for many things, among them maple syrup and maple sugar. Well, things are getting sweeter for Vermont employees, because the state’s 2019 minimum wage increase will soon be in effect.

Details of the 2019 Minimum Wage

New Minimum Wage Rates

Starting January 1, 2019, Vermont’s minimum wage rate will increase annually by 5% or the percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index.

In 2019, employers in the Green Mountain State who have 2 or more employees must pay a minimum wage rate of $10.78 per hour.

The basic wage rate, which is the minimum hourly rate for service or tipped employees, is $5.39 per hour.

Service or tipped employees—who regularly receive more than $120.00 per month in tips—must also receive a maximum tip credit of $5.39 per hour, which is the difference between the basic wage rate and the new minimum wage. (Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz on this later.)

Minimum Wage Exemptions

Under Vermont’s Minimum Wage law, certain workers are exempt from receiving the minimum wage. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Full-time high school students*
  • Agricultural workers
  • Outside salespersons
  • Newspaper or advertisement home delivery persons
  • Domestic workers in or about a private home
  • Federal government employees

*These students may receive a youth minimum wage under federal law. For more info, employers may call the U.S. Department of Labor at (802)-951-6283.

We Can Keep You in Compliance

Due to required labor law posting changes, we issued an updated Vermont poster two times in 2018. We encourage you to order our 1-Year Compliance Plan to keep up with the required changes.

Under the plan, you will automatically receive the updated Vermont poster as soon as it is available. Plus, we’ll provide you with free poster updates for mandatory changes, no matter how many occur during the plan year. Our customers know that they can always count on Poster Compliance Center to keep their businesses in compliance!