State: Minimum wage to remain the same

Ohio Dept. of Commerce information

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s minimum wage is scheduled to remain unchanged for 2016 at $8.10 per hour for non-tipped employees and $4.05 per hour for tipped employees. The minimum wage will apply to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $297,000 per year.

The constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters in November 2006 states that Ohio’s minimum wage shall increase on January 1 of each year by the rate of inflation. The state minimum wage is tied to the federally determined Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the 12-month period prior to September. This national CPI-W index declined 0.3 percent over the 12-month period from September 1, 2014, to August 31, 2015.

The constitutional amendment states that the minimum wage level shall increase at the rate of inflation, therefore, a decrease in the CPI-W index means that the Ohio minimum wage will remain the same as in the previous year. The constitutional amendment is available online: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/laws/ohio-constitution/section?const=2.34a

For employees at smaller companies with annual gross receipts of $297,000 or less per year after January 1, 2016, and for 14- and 15-year-olds, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. For these employees, the state wage is tied to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which requires an act of Congress and the President’s signature to change.