Ohio's minimum wage to increase Jan. 1

SENECA COUNTY --- Ohio's minimum wage is scheduled to increase starting Jan. 1, 2024. The minimum wage is to increase from $10.10 to $10.45 per hour for non-tipped employees, and from $5.05 to $5.25 per hour for tipped employees. The minimum wage will apply to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of over $385,000 per year. "The additional income may help families with their household budget, which could provide more stability to families," Kathy Oliver, director of the Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services, said of the increase. "As far as the services we provide to customers, that would result in approximately an extra $14 in gross wages per 40-hour workweek or approximately $728 increase in gross wages for a 40 hour per week employee for the year." According to the release, the Constitutional Amendment (II-34a) passed by Ohio voters in November of 2006, states Ohio's minimum wage shall increase on Jan. 1 each year by the rate of inflation. "The state minimum wage is tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) for urban wage earners and clerical workers over the 12-month period prior to September," the release stated. "The CPI-W index increased by 3.7% over the 12-month period from Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2023." Employees working at companies with annual gross receipts of $385,000 or less per year after Jan. 1, 2024, and for 14 and 15-year-olds, the state's minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The state wage is tied to the federal minimum wage for these employees, which would require an act of Congress and the signature of the US President's to change. According to Policy Matters Ohio, a left-leaning Ohio think tank, the minimum wage hike will benefit about 389,000 Ohioans. Citing the Economic Policy Institute, Policy Matters Ohio says about 51,000 Ohioans now paid less than $10.45 will see a direct wage increase from the index, while about 238,000 currently paid a little more will get a likely boost as employers adjust pay scales. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 30 states and Washington D.C. have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. (The federal minimum wage has not been raised since 2009). Five states have not adopted a state minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Two states, Georgia and Wyoming, have a minimum wage below $7.25 per hour. In all seven of these states, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies, the National Conference says. An effort currently is under way to raise Ohio's minimum wage in stages until it reaches $15 an hour in a few years. According to Ballotpedia, the Ohio Minimum Wage Increase Initiative, which seeks to raise Ohio's minimum wage to $15, may show up on the ballot next year as a proposed constitutional amendment. The proposed state question would hike the minimum wage to $10.50 in 2025 and then in equal increments each year until reaching $15.00 in 2028. The proposal also would end smaller wages for tipped workers, disabled workers and young people. The proposal has passed its initial stages of certification by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the Ohio Ballot Board. On May 15, 2023, the Raise the Wage Coalition began its campaign to get signatures to get the measure on the ballot next year.