Starting Tuesday, July 1, 2014, all employers in the District of Columbia (D.C.) will have to increase their hourly wage to $9.50. The law, signed January 15, 2014 by Mayor Vincent Gray, raises the D.C. minimum wage to $11.50 per hour in steps – starting with the 07/01/2014 increase. The minimum wage will increase $1 each year until it reaches $11.50, and then the minimum wage will be tied to the cost of living each year after.
The schedule of increases for the District’s minimum wage is below:
• Beginning July 1, 2014: $9.50
• Beginning July 1, 2015: $10.50
• Beginning July 1, 2016: $11.50
*Annual indexed increases will start July 1, 2017
The D.C. minimum wage law did not include an increase for tipped employees. The current minimum wage law for tipped employees will remain at $2.77. However, if the employee’s hourly tip earnings along with the base minimum wage do not equal D.C.’s established minimum wage, then the employer must pay the difference.
