Minimum Wage Updates - February 2020
Minimum Wage Updates
January 1, 2020 Sees Increases to Salary Exempt Pay Threshold at Both State and Federal Levels
The minimum salary an employee must earn in order to qualify as an “exempt” employee, which exempts him or her from overtime pay requirements, has increased federally under the FLSA and by a handful of states through their respective state laws. These salary exempt pay threshold hikes came in response to increases to the minimum wage in these same jurisdictions. Below is a list of these threshold changes:
Federal: Minimum salary threshold increased from $455 to $684 per week, which is equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker.
California: Under California law, the salary threshold is twice the state minimum wage (this is true even when working in a locality with a higher minimum wage) for full-time employment. Accordingly, the threshold rose to $1,040 per week for employers with 26 or more employees when the state minimum wage increased from $12 per hour to $13 per hour, and to $960 per week for employers with 25 or fewer employees, when the state minimum wage increased from $11 per hour to $12 per hour.
New York: The minimum salary threshold increased in the State of New York effective December 31, 2019, the threshold to vary by location. $1,125 per week ($58,500 per year) in New York City;
- $975 per week ($50,700 per year) in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties; and
- $885 per week ($46,020 per year) in the remainder of the state.
Alaska: Alaska requires that exempt employees be paid a minimum of two times the state minimum wage for the first 40 hours worked in a workweek. Therefore, when the minimum wage rose to $10.19 per hour, the salary exempt pay threshold rose to $815.20 per week.
Maine: In Maine, an exempt employee’s annual income must exceed 3,000 times the state minimum wage for an annual salary. Therefore, when the minimum wage rose to $12 per hour, the salary exempt pay threshold rose to $36,000 per year.
Click here to see the minimum wage chart.