Minimum wage laws can affect businesses of all sizes, whether operating nationwide, in multiple jurisdictions, or only in one state, county, or city. To help manage this challenge, below we provide a rates-only update that details scheduled state- and local-level wage increases that will occur on January 1, 2022 (or December 31, 2021 in New York) so employers can determine the minimum amount they must pay non-exempt, tipped, and certain exempt employees. Although additional rate changes will occur later in 2022, we limit our focus in this article to those that will ring in the new year, and will cover later updates via our mid-year rates article.

Fall 2021 Changes: Before we look forward to 2022, let’s take a quick look at some notable rate-related changes that occurred or took effect in the second half of 2021 (after we published our 2021 mid-year update):

• On June 20, Maine LD 1489 was enacted without the governor’s signature, and, effective October 18, 2021, increases (in 2022, 2023, and annually afterwards) the amount of tips an employee must receive to be a “service employee,” which affects whether employers can count tips toward the minimum wage. On January 1, 2022, the threshold increases from $30 to $100 per month.
• On June 30, Colorado’s Department of Labor & Employment issued Interpretive Notice & Formal Opinion #1A, in which it explained how it translated the required weekly minimum salary for overtime-exempt executives, administrative and professional...

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