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Oklahoma Minimum Wage Update

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I’m the owner of an

Oklahoma company that is covered by the state minimum wage, not the federal minimum wage. I understand that the federal minimum wage recently increased from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour. But didn’t the

Oklahoma state minimum wage stay the same?

No, the Oklahoma minimum wage increased also, because Oklahoma is one of those states that have pegged their state rates to the federal rate. Every time the federal rate goes up, so does the

Oklahoma rate.

As the owner of a company, it’s important that you know that Oklahoma employers are required to update their posters outlining the details of the minimum wage each time a change occurs. Both federal and state posters must be changed to reflect the new information.

Other states that peg their increases to the federal rate include Oklahoma, Virginia, and Utah. But in some states, it will require state legislation before the minimum wage goes up above the original $5.15 an hour. Still, employers in those states might have to pay the new federal minimum.

Illinois is one of the states that hiked the minimum wage even before the federal increase went into effect on July 25, 2007. Others are New Hampshire, New Mexico, and

Kentucky.

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, passed on May 25, 2007, started a series of 70 cent per hour wage hikes beginning with the first on July 25. Two more increases are planned, for a year and two years ahead, respectively. The first, on July 25, 2008, increases the minimum wage to $6.55 an hour, and the second, exactly a year later, to $7.25 an hour.

Oklahoma rates will also increase, and on the same dates.

While it may sound like a big increase to some, the last minimum wage hike was in 1997, or 10 years ago. When the rate was $5.15 an hour, it actually represented less purchasing power than it did in 1950, or more than 50 years ago. Congress, meanwhile, has increased its own pay by an average of $31,600.

Some states will be seeing minimum wage hikes in the near future. Three raises in Illinois will bring it up to $8.25 by the beginning of the next decade. And by January 1 of 2009,

New Mexico’s rate will be $7.50.