(The Center Square) – Hourly workers earning the minimum wage in Delaware will be seeing a bump in pay in the new year.
The state’s minimum wage will increase to $11.75, beginning Jan. 1, which is a $1.25 increase from the current minimum wage of $10.50.
Senate Bill 15, which was signed by Gov. John Carney on July 19, 2021, set the minimum wage increase in motion. The bill passed the state House of Representatives by a 26-15 vote and 14-6 in the Senate.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, according to the law, the minimum wage will be boosted to $13.25 per hour and will reach $15 per hour in 2025.
Under the law, employees who receive tips will earn a minimum wage of $2.23 per hour, and tips are not permitted to be taken or retained by an employer, except as required by law. In addition, tip pooling is not permitted, but is allowable under certain conditions, and can’t exceed 15% of the actual tips received by an employee.
However, there are exemptions under the minimum wage law. Employees working in agriculture; domestic service in or about private homes; employees of the U.S. government; outside commission paid salespeople; bona fide executives, administrators, and professionals; and employees engaged in fishing or fish processing at sea are exempt from the minimum wage.
In addition, volunteer workers in education, religious or nonprofit settings; junior camp counselors employed by nonprofit summer camp programs; and inmates participating in Department of Corrections programs are exempt from the minimum wage requirements.
Under the law, employers are required to keep records featuring rates of pay, hours worked, and the amount paid to each worker for a period of three years.
Delaware joins Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington in raising the minimum wage in 2023.
