New Year – New Higher Minimum Wage in Minnesota

(KNSI) – The new year will bring in a new statewide minimum wage.

Minnesota’s minimum-wage rates will be adjusted for inflation beginning January 1st, 2021, to $10.08 an hour for large employers and $8.21 an hour for small employers and other state minimum wages.

Large employers are considered those with annual gross revenue of over $500,000. Small employers are those with annual gross revenue of less than $500,000.

The $8.21 per hour can be considered a training wage rate and can be paid to an employee under the age of 20 and within the first 90 days of employment. It may also be paid to someone under the age of 18.

State minimum-wage rates will not apply to work performed in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which have higher minimum-wage rates.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry says that in the balance of the state, for February 2020, an estimated 206,000 jobs, or 8.5% of the total, paid the minimum wage or less. The department used February 2020 as the metric as that was the last month before the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on the economy.