ST. LOUIS – The minimum wage in Illinois is set to increase at the start of the 2024 calendar year. Here’s how those changes will take affect, and a look at where Indiana sits with its minimum wage laws.
Illinois
Effective on Jan. 1, Illinois’ new minimum wage will be $14 per hour for those over 18 years old.
The Illinois Department of Labor says the state’s current minimum wage law took effect in 2023 and calls for increases each year through 2025.
The current law states that some employees could potentially have a wage less than $14 per hour. Minimum hourly rates are $8.40 for those who work in an industry with tips or $12 for anyone under 18 who also works less than 650 hours per year.
Illinois DOR says that those who work for tips must be paid the minimum wage rate, but an employer can apply tip credit of 40%. Anyone who works overtime in Illinois is also entitled to pay at time and one-half for anything worked beyond 40 hours.
Indiana
According to the federal Department of Labor, Indiana’s minimum wage remains set at the $7.25 per hour. The law affects employers with 2 or more employees.
A now-dead bill, SB 366, was introduced by Democratic State Senator Rodney Pol in January of 2023 that sought to increase the state’s minimum wage to $13 per hour. That bill had a first reading, but died in committee.
The last time Indiana increased their minimum wage was when the federal government increased the minimum from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour in 2009.
Indiana is one of a number of states to hold to that level of payment in their state laws in the years since.
The Indiana Department of Labor, says state laws allow for tipped employees to be paid a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer claims a tip credit. However, “If the employee’s tips combined with the hourly wage do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make
up the difference.”
Indiana also allows for a Training Wage of just $4.25 per hour for employees under the age of 20 in the first 90 days of the person’s employment.
