On April 15th, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed legislation which will increase Minnesota’s minimum wage to $8.00 per hour for “large” employers and $6.50 per hour for “small” employers. These increases will be effective August 1, 2014.  This minimum wage will increase on August 1, 2015, to $9.00 per hour for “large” employers and $7.25 per hour for “small” employers and, again, on August 1, 2016, to $9.50 per hour for “large” employers and $7.75 per hour for “small” employers.  Beginning in 2017, the minimum wage will be indexed to inflation.

Additionally, under the legislation, the definitions of a “large” employer and “small” employer also were modified.  Now, a “large” employer is an enterprise that has an annual gross volume of sales made or business done of not less than $500,000 (previously the threshold was $625,000) and a “small” employer is an enterprise that has an annual gross volume of sales made or business done of less than $500,000 (previously the threshold was less than $625,000).