Massachusetts Minimum Wage Expected to Rise to $11.00

Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor

UPDATE: On June 26, 2014, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed the minimum wage bill into law.

June 20, 2014

A bill that would raise the minimum wage rate in Massachusetts from $8.00 to $11.00 over the next three years has been passed by the legislature and awaits the governor's signature.

The bill, 2013 Bill Text MA S.B. 2195, will raise Massachusetts' minimum wage to:

  • $9.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2015;
  • $10.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2016; and
  • $11.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2017.

The minimum wage rate will not be tied to inflation, as earlier versions of the bill would have required. However, the bill would require that Massachusetts' minimum wage always remain at least 50 cents higher than the federal minimum wage. Current law requires that Massachusetts' minimum wage be only 10 cents higher than the federal minimum. The difference is currently moot, as the federal minimum wage is only $7.25, but could become relevant if Congress raises the federal minimum to $10.10 as President Obama has called for.

The bill also would raise the minimum wage for agricultural and farming employees from $1.60 to $8.00 effective January 1, 2015, and raise the minimum cash wage for tipped employees from $2.63 to:

  • $3.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2015;
  • $3.35 per hour beginning January 1, 2016; and
  • $3.75 per hour beginning January 1, 2017.

Gov. Deval Patrick has 10 days from June 19 to sign or veto the bill. If the bill is signed into law, Massachusetts would become the ninth state to pass a law increasing the minimum wage this year, following Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and West Virginia and Vermont.