Vermont plans to raise the state minimum wage rate from $8.73 per hour to $10.50 per hour over the next four years under a bill that passed just before the legislative session ended on Saturday. Once the bill is signed into law, Vermont will lead with the highest scheduled minimum wage rate of any state by 2018. Vermont’s Governor Shumlin has expressed his support of the bill.
Vermont will be the seventh state to pass a minimum wage hike this year and the fourth to surpass the $10.00 mark. Delaware and West Virginia lawmakers raised their wages above $8.00 an hour. Minnesota raised the minimum wage for most large companies to $9.50 per hour. And Hawaii, Maryland, and Connecticut each established $10.10 minimum wages.
Many states are still considering wage hikes this year either through legislative or voter action, and other states annually adjust their minimum wage rates each year based on the Consumer Price Index. Topping minimum wage rates at the local level are Santa Fe, NM at $10.66 per hour and San Francisco, CA at $10.74 per hour. Seattle is in the process of establishing a citywide minimum wage rate that will reach $15.00 per hour. Employees of federal contractors will be making $10.10 per hour starting next year.
Compliance Poster Company will be updating labor law posters with the new minimum wage rates later this year. Stay tuned!