A state minimum wage, allowing the enactment of local minimum wage ordinances, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

The bill raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour for non-tipped employees of small employers on the effective date of the bill and by 75 cents per hour on each successive January 1 until 2034, when it is set at the standard minimum wage then in effect. The bill also raises the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour for tipped employees of small employers on the effective date of the bill and by 50 cents per hour on each successive January 1 until 2034, when it is set at one-half the standard minimum wage then in effect.

The table below illustrates the progression of the minimum wage between the current minimum wage and January 1, 2034.

- See PDF for table - See PDF for table Beginning on January 1, 2031, and annually thereafter, the bill requires the Department of Workforce Development to annually revise the minimum wage for most employees established under the bill by determining the percentage difference between the consumer price index for the preceding year and the consumer price index for the year before the preceding year, adjusting the minimum wage then in effect by that percentage difference, and rounding that result to the nearest multiple of five cents. If the consumer price index for the preceding year has not increased over the consumer price index for the year before the preceding year, DWD will not revise the minimum wage for most employees. DWD must publish the revised minimum wage in the Wisconsin Administrative Register and on DWD’s website. The bill also provides that if the minimum wage generally for employees, as revised, is not at least $20 per hour, DWD must revise it to $20 per hour beginning on January 1, 2031.

The bill also repeals 1) a provision that requires DWD to promulgate rules governing the counting of tips or similar gratuities toward payment of the minimum wage; 2) provisions setting specific meal and lodging allowances; and 3) provisions establishing minimum wages for minor employees, opportunity employees, agricultural employees, and others and instead requires DWD to establish the minimum wage for those employees by rule.

Finally, current law prohibits a city, village, town, or county from enacting and administering an ordinance establishing a minimum wage. The bill eliminates that prohibition.