We seem to say this every year — December always seems to go by far too fast. And with holidays and vacations, not to mention many employees still working remotely, it’s not unusual for matters to be put off until the new year — or for a project or two to fall through the cracks.
Often, there are no real consequences if a project gets pushed off into the new year. But that’s not the case with new state or local wage-hour laws.
As reflected in the charts below, minimum wages will increase in dozens of states and localities when the calendar flips on January 1, 2023. That means that employees need to be paid at those new rates effective January 1, 2023, irrespective of how busy things were this month.
Employers would be wise to confirm that their payroll and human resources departments are prepared to make necessary changes to comply with the new state and local requirements.
Underpaying employees just because adjustments fell through the cracks during all of the end-of-year activities is likely to get very little sympathy from employees — and just as little sympathy from the courts and from the agencies that address wage-hour compliance.
| State | 2023 Rate |
| Alaska | $10.85 |
| Arizona | $13.85 |
| California | $15.50 |
| Colorado | $13.65 ($10.63 for tipped employees) |
| Connecticut | $15 ($6.38 for tipped workers $8.23 for bartenders) |
| Delaware | $11.75 ($2.23 for tipped employees) ... |
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