The Ramsey County Board voted Tuesday to establish a $15 minimum wage for all county employees, saying the measure will not only help with recruiting but also improve employees' quality of life and address racial earning disparities in the county's workforce.
Ramsey County Board sets $15 minimum wage for county employees
Hennepin County established a $20 minimum wage in March.
June 22, 2021 at 5:18PM
The new wage will take effect Saturday for 120 county employees, most of whom work in seasonal and entry-level positions and make less than $15 an hour. They will see the wage bump in their July paychecks.
While most of the county's 4,000 staffers already make $15 an hour or more, the board's action raises wages for lifeguards, summer highway maintenance workers, park and recreation aides, naturalist aides, student workers and workers with certain disabilities.
Trainees in the county's workforce program also will get paid a $15 minimum wage. And earlier this month, the County Board approved a 50% raise to $15 an hour for election judges.
Commissioner Jim McDonough applauded the vote, saying the wage boost will improve the lives of many county employees. According to officials, most Ramsey County employees earning less than $15 an hour are people of color and employees with disability, and about half of all county employees actually live in the county.
The wage increase, expected to cost up to $150,000 annually, will bring Ramsey County in line with other employers across the county, including those in the public sector. County officials said the wage increase will be absorbed by each department and budget impacts will continue to be monitored.
Tuesday's board vote follows Hennepin County's unprecedented step in March when the board there approved a $20 hourly minimum wage for all county employees. That action is expected to cost the county $2.2 million over four years. Hennepin County established a $15 minimum wage five years ago.
Minneapolis and St. Paul officials are raising the minimum wage for all businesses citywide to $15 an hour, with Minneapolis expected to reach that level by 2024 and St. Paul by July 2022.
Minnesota state workers currently get the statewide minimum wage for large employers, $10.08 an hour. The minimum wage for small businesses in Minnesota is $8.21 an hour.
Staff writer David Chanen contributed to this report.
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