Starting this week, Massachusetts will be moving forward with increasing the minimum wage.
The wage increase will begin Wednesday, according to Boston.com. They report the wage increase will benefit 420,600 workers in Massachusetts.
The wage increase is part of the “Grand Bargain” bill, which was passed in 2018. Slowly but surely, state lawmakers will increase the wage from $11 to $15. The goal is to hit the new minimum wage by 2023, but this is only part of the bigger plan.
Boston.com reports the minimum wage will increase from $11 to $12.75 an hour in 2020. The rate takes effect Wednesday as we enter a new year and a new decade.
According to Boston.com, here’s the mimimum wage increase plan:
• 2019: $12
• 2020: $12.75
• 2021: $13.50
• 2022: $14.25
• 2023: $15
Massachusetts is not the only state with big plans; there are a few other states also raising the minimum wage. At the moment, no states have the $15 minimum wage, but some states working towards it besides Massachusetts include: New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Illinois.
In 2023, when Massachusetts hits the $15 benchmark, it will join states such as New York, California and Connecticut, as well as Washington, D.C.
Although most folks are getting the increase to $15, there are some exceptions when it comes to agriculture workers and tipped workers. Some other exceptions include: workers being trained in certain educational, nonprofit, or religious originations, outside salespeople and members of religious orders.
When it comes to tipped workers, they are technically not exempt from minimum wage, but their base rate will remain lower. The tipped workers will range from $4.35 to $4.95 an hour.
Boston.com reports that below are the increase wage rates for tipped workers:
• 2019: $4.35
• 2020: $4.95
• 2021: $5.55
• 2022: $6.15
• 2023: $6.75
Despite these laws, it was reported that if their income, including tips, does not total to $12.75 an hour, employers are going to be required to make up the difference.
Due to the arcane farm labor laws, most agriculture workers will keep their wages at $8 an hour.