Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increases to $11.00

Governor Deval Patrick signed a new law increasing the Massachusetts minimum wage from $8.00 per hour to $11.00 per hour over three years, on July 26, 2014. This wage increase affects the majority of employers in the state and will impact 600,000 workers.

The Massachusetts minimum wage law requires employers to increase wages from $8.00 per hour in 2014, to $9.00 per hour on January 1, 2015. In 2016, employers must pay $10.00 per hour and in 2017, the minimum wage is $11.00 per hour. These rates are significantly above the 2014 federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

In addition, the MA minimum wage includes the first increases for tipped employees since 1999. Beginning January 1, 2015 the rate for tipped workers increases from $2.63 per hour to $3.00 per hour. In 2016, Massachusetts employers are required to pay tipped employees $3.35 per hour. The tipped minimum wage in 2017 is $3.75 per hour.

The minimum wage bill is long and complex, and the Massachusetts Department of Labor has not yet released guidelines on it. However, the law includes lower unemployment taxes for most employers, and provisions to base an employer’s unemployment taxes on a three-year average of unemployment rates, rather than one year. The law was applauded by both Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo.

The Massachusetts minimum wage law also establishes a permanent multi-agency Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy to investigate employers who inaccurately classify employees as independent contractors, as well as employers who are in violation of minimum wage and overtime laws.