More than 200,000 of Minnesota's lowest-paid workers are getting a raise shy of 1% Friday, when the state raises the minimum hourly wage to account for inflation.
Large employers through much of Minnesota will be required to pay at least $10.08 per hour, an increase of 8 cents an hour. For a full-time employee making minimum wage, the increase amounts to about $166 a year, to $20,966 annually.
For smaller employers, those with annual gross revenue below $500,000, minimum employee pay must rise starting by 6 cents to $8.21 an hour, according to state Department of Labor and Industry.
The new pay rate for workers under 18 and the training wage for employees under 20 who have been on the job for fewer than 90 days also will be $8.21 per hour.
For a full-time worker at a large company earning minimum wage, annual earnings are about equal to the federal poverty threshold for a three-person household.
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Temporary Commissioner Roslyn Robertson said that the increase is less than the statewide increase in overall wages, meaning minimum wage has fallen relative to other wages even with the increase.
"The increase is only intended to keep workers even with inflation, not to boost their purchasing power," Robertson said via e-mail.
These new pay floors do not apply to the state's largest pools of employees, those located in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Those two cities approved ordinances to raise the minimum wage to $15 under different timelines depending on employer size. All Minneapolis employers must pay $15 an hour by 2024, and all St. Paul employers must hit that mark by 2028.