COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — When the new year rang in Sunday morning, a fraction of Ohioans saw an automatic boost in wages soon-to-be owed, as the hourly legal minimum increased from $9.30 to $10.10 for non-tipped workers and from $4.65 to $5.05 for tipped workers.
Ohio’s minimum hourly wage has been tied to inflation since November 2006, when voters ratified a constitutional amendment mandating that it rise annually with inflation. The legal minimum is scheduled to adjust on Jan. 1 of each year — this year for businesses with annual gross revenue of $372,000 or more — according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
In 2023, for non-tipped workers, it clocks in at $0.80 more than the year prior — the largest change on record, according to political research organization Policy Matters Ohio.
“While those new pay scales won’t push up workers’ buying power, they serve as a vital safeguard against inflation, which hit a 40-year high this year,” researcher Michael Shields said in a December statement.
But Don DePerro, Columbus Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer, said that while the increase will touch a few industries in particular — including hospitality, home health care, fast food and convenience, and janitorial — he doubts most workers in central Ohio were making less than the old or new minimum.
“I don’t know who is paying $10.10, but I would venture to guess that there are not many,” DePerro said in an interview. “This honestly should not have a major,...
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