Minimum wage workers in Minnesota will get a 1.4% wage hike effective on January 1, with employers being required to pay at least $10 an hour to most workers. The federal minimum wage, at least for the time being, remains $7.25 an hour. However, Minnesota, like many other states, sets a statewide minimum wage higher than the federal minimum.
Residents should be aware that individual cities within the state, including Minneapolis, have local ordinances that set a higher minimum wage within their respective city limits. For its part, Minneapolis is on track to require all businesses to pay $15 an hour by July of 2024, with larger companies paying $15 an hour by 2023.
While it may seem like a straightforward question as to whether or not an employer in this state is following the law, it is surprisingly disappointing how far employers are willing to go to avoid paying what they owe their employees. For instance, employers may try to get around minimum wage and overtime rules by declaring an employee “exempt” from the hourly wage and paying that employee a flat salary instead. While this is supposed to work to the mutual advantage of an employer and an employee, many businesses may misclassify an employee as exempt and then pay a salary which, mathematically, works out to much less than the hourly minimum wage. In other cases, an employer may put unlawful pressure on an employee to work off the clock or otherwise perform uncompensated work.
Employees in Minnesota who feel that their employee rights to the minimum wage have been violated may want to consider filing a legal claim.
