What You Need to Know About Minnesota Minimum Wage Laws

Most employees in the United States are required to be paid a certain amount. Sometimes minimum wage laws can be confusing when it differs from federal statutes. Here is everything you need to know about Minnesota Minumum wage laws.

What is Minimum wage?

Minimum wage laws exist to assure that employers have to pay a fair level of pay to cover the employees. Currently the federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 an hour. This means that every state is required to have a minimum wage of at least $7.25 per hour. Many states have a minimum wage as above this amount, that is codified through either state statures or the state’s constitution.

Depending on the state, their minimum wage can follow one of four classifications. These classifications include:

  1. Their minimum wage is codified into state law and matches the federal stature
  2. There a minimum wage policy explicitly stated in the states codes that is greater than what is listed in the federal stature
  3. The state does not have a minimum wage stature, which means that the states minimum wage will match the federal minimum wage
  4. States explicitly list a minimum wage that is lower than the federal government minimum wage which can only apply to certain jobs done within the state. This means in the basement majority of jobs will still be required to match the federal minimum wage

Related: Work Injury Statute of Limitations By State

Who is exempt from minimum wage?

  • Bona fide executives
  • Administrative or professional worker
  • Any volunteers a nonprofit organization
  • Employees such as drivers, drivers helpers, mechanics and loaders of the US Department of Transportation
    Babysitters

Are tipped employees allowed to be paid less than minimum wage?

No, tipped employees must be paid at least at minimum wage, in addition to whatever tips they have earned during the work hours. Employers are not allowed to take a tip credit against minimum wage.

What is the minimum wage in Minnesota?

Currently, the minimum wage in Minnesota is $8.42 an hour for smaller employers, and $10.33 an hour for larger employers. This information is current. The Minnesota Department of Labor projects the minimum wage will increase to $10.59 by 2023 for large employers and to $8.63 for smaller employers. As of January 1, 2023, the youth wage rate must increase to $8.63 an hour. The youth wage rate applies to employees who are younger than the age of 18.

What can you do if your employer does not pay minimum wage?

If you are a worker who qualifies to be paid minimum wage, and your employer is paying you a wage below the state stature you can call the Department of Labor and Industry, Labor Standards Unit. After you file a complaint, the Department will review the complaint and then determine if your employer is in the wrong.

Minimum Wage in By County in Minnesota

The current minimum wage in Minnesota is $10.33 per hour for large businesses. This applies to any business with an annual gross revenue of over $500,000. The rate for small businesses is $8.42.

Related: Workers’ Compensation: File and Prove a Claim

There are some cities in months of polities which have low higher minimum wages. These include:

Minneapolis: $15.00 an hour for business is more than 100 employees and $13.50 for businesses with less than 100 employees
Saint Paul: $15.00 an hour for businesses with more than 10,000 employees, $13.50 for businesses between 101 to 10,000 employees, $12.00 an hour for small businesses which classify as 6 to 100 employees, and $10.75 for employees which have less than five employees,which is classified as a micro business.

Contact Us

If you or a loved one would like to learn more about Minnesota Minimum Wage Laws, get connected to an attorney with one of our Employment Attorneys in Minnesota today!