Minnesota residents are hard workers, and because of that, they deserve an appropriate amount of pay. It is for this reason that Minnesota has set a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. The Minnesota minimum wage amount differs based on several conditions.
If a person works for a large employer, the minimum wage in Minnesota is $9.50 per hour. A large employer is an enterprise with a yearly gross dollar volume of sales made or business done amounting to at least $500,000. If a person works for a small employer, the minimum wage in Minnesota is $7.75. A small employer is an enterprise with a yearly gross dollar volume of sales made or business done amounting to under $500,000. For workers under 18-years-old who are not covered by the federal minimum wage law, the minimum wage in Minnesota is $7.75, as it is for those with a J-1 visa.
That being said, certain types of workers are not covered by the state minimum wage laws. These include babysitters, drivers of taxi cabs, nonprofit organization volunteers, police and fire protection workers, workers who are covered by the U.S. Department of Transportation provisions and several other types of workers named in Minnesota Statutes. However, if a person is exempt from the Minnesota minimum wage law, but is still covered by the federal minimum wage law, they will make the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Moreover, in Minnesota there is no tip credit against the state law requirements for the minimum wage. Workers who make tips, such as waiters and waitresses, cannot be forced to use these tips to offset the state amount of minimum wage they fall under. They must be compensated for the applicable minimum wage for all of the hours they put in.
The state of Minnesota recognizes via the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act that having a minimum wage benefits the workers’ health, their efficiency while on the job, and all in all their general well-being, and is a critical component of employee rights. While some may argue that the minimum wage is still not high enough, by having a state minimum wage above the federal minimum wage, it is at least a step forward in seeing that workers are paid appropriately.
