Arizona Increasing Its Minimum Wage to $7.80 in 2013
Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor
Starting January 1, 2013, Arizona's minimum wage will increase by 15 cents to $7.80 per hour, the Industrial Commission of Arizona has announced.
Arizona adjusts its minimum wage each year to keep pace with the rate of inflation. This year's increase of 1.7 percent is based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers between August 2012 and August 2013, as required by the state statute. +A.R.S. § 23-363.
Arizona's annual inflation adjustments are the result of a ballot initiative passed in 2006. Nine other states also annually adjust their minimum wages based on the rate of inflation.
Once the new minimum wage kicks in, Arizona's minimum wage will be 55 cents higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The higher state minimum wage will apply except in rare cases in which as employee is exempt from Arizona's minimum wage requirements, but not those of the federal government.
Arizona allows employers to pay employees who customarily and regularly receive tips or gratuities (such as servers, bellhops, busboys, car wash attendants, hairdressers, barbers, valets and bartenders) a wage up to $3.00 less than Arizona's minimum wage if they maintain records indicating that an employee earns at least minimum wage for all hours worked when that employee's tips are combined with the employer's direct wages. +Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 23-363; +Ariz. Admin. Code R20-5-1207. Therefore, on January 1, 2013, the new minimum wage for tipped employees will be $4.80 per hour.
Arizona employers subject to the Arizona Minimum Wage Act must place a poster prescribed by the Industrial Commission's Labor Department informing employees of their rights under the Act in a conspicuous place in every establishment where employees are employed and where notices to employees are customarily placed. Employers must ensure that the notice is not removed, altered, defaced, or covered by other material. +Ariz. Admin. Code R20-5-1208. The 2012 poster can be found on the Commission's website, but the 2013 poster is not yet available.