Hawaii Raises Minimum Wage to $10.10

Increase will take effect gradually over the next four years.

April 30, 2014

HONOLULU – Last week, Hawaii voted to increase its minimum wage to $10.10 by 2018, MSNBC reports. The legislature must okay the final version and Gov. Neil Abercrombie has to sign it in order for it to become law.

“I commend our legislators for advancing the proposal to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour,” said Abercrombie. “It is imperative to provide our lowest paid workers with the economic stability and security they deserve.”

The current minimum wage in Hawaii is $7.25, the same as the federal starting wage. President Barack Obama has called for raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10. Hawaii joins Connecticut and Maryland in voting this year to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. The Hawaii minimum wage will rise over four years: to $7.75 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2015; to $8.50 on Jan. 1, 2016; to $9.25 on Jan. 1, 2017, and to $10.10 on Jan. 1, 2018.

Hawaii even approved increasing the tipped minimum wage to $10.10 for any tipped employee earning less than $17.10 per hour with tips. For workers earning more than $17.10 hourly, employers would receive a 75 cents tip credit. Hawaii workers generally rely heavily on tips, given the state’s billion-dollar tourism industry. The state also has a high rate of unionization.

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