Ohio employers should be aware that the minimum wage is about to increase yet again. The Ohio Department of Commerce has announced that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $7.00 per hour on January 1, 2008 – a 15 cent increase over the 2007 minimum wage. The minimum wage for tipped employees will rise from $3.43 to $3.50 per hour, so long as employees earn a total of $7.00 per hour once wages and tips are combined. 

These new minimum wages apply to employees over 16 years of age whose employers gross more than $255,000 annually. For employees younger than 16 and those whose employers gross less than $255,000 annually, the federal minimum wage of $5.85 applies – but not for long. The federal minimum wage will increase to $6.55 on July 24, 2008.

A copy of the Department of Commerce’s 2008 Minimum Wage poster can be found here.