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What Is the Minimum Wage in Idaho State?
Desmond Rhodes
Idaho's minimum wage has corresponded with federal minimum wage laws since 2009. There is currently a ballot initiative to raise the Idaho minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 an hour; this initiative will appear on the November 2020 ballot. As it stands right now, Idaho will remain one of the 12 states defaulting to federal minimum wage laws.
1 2020 Minimum Wage in Idaho: $7.25 per hour
1.1 Tipped: $3.35 per hour
1.2 Weekly: $290.00 per week
1.3 Annually: $15,080.00 per year
1.4 Overtime: $10.88 per hour
1.5 Fair Labor Standards Act Exemptions in Idaho
2 Idaho Minimum Wage Increase News
2020 Minimum Wage in Idaho: $7.25 per hour
Non-exempt employees of Idaho will earn the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Employees who are exempt from the Idaho Minimum Wage Law include tipped employees, students, employees 20 years of age and under, executive positions, farmworkers, and more. These employees may be paid less than the Idaho minimum wage law requires and/or may be paid on a piece-rate basis.
Tipped: $3.35 per hour
For employees who work with tips, the minimum wage is set at $7.25 per hour. A tipped employee is defined by the Minimum Wage Law (Title 44, chapter 15) as, "Any employee engaged in an occupation in which the employee customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips." Employers may choose to impose a tip credit on their tipped employees and take a maximum of $3.90 from their hourly wage. Tipped employees will then end up making a lesser hourly minimum wage of $3.35 per hour plus tips.
If an employee's tips combined with this $3.35 wage do not equal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour), the employer must make up the difference. For Idaho, no tipped employee shall receive less than $7.25 per hour. The minimum cash wage (with tip credit taken) plus compensation made by tips will always equal at least $7.25. Tipped employees may earn more than the Idaho minimum wage when tips are involved.
Weekly: $290.00 per week
Idahoans who work 40 hours in a week can expect to earn $290 per week on minimum wage. An estimated weekly wage for a standard 40-hour workweek in Idaho can be easily calculated. $7.25 per hour multiplied by 40 hours will give you $290 per week. Bear in mind that this does not include state and federal tax deductions, as well as sick days, overtime pay, or holiday pay.
Annually: $15,080.00 per year
Annually, Idahoans can make $15,080 per year on minimum wage. An Idaho annual wage can be quickly tallied if you understand your minimum wage weekly income. If an employee makes $290 per week, and there are 52 weeks in the year, $290 multiplied by 52 weeks equals $15,080 per year. Like weekly pay, tax deductions, overtime, sick days, and holiday pay paid may add or detract from your annual income.
Overtime: $10.88 per hour
The Idaho Department of Labor's Guide to Idaho Labor Laws states that, "Unless specifically exempt under the provisions of the federal law, salaried employees must be paid time and one-half for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek."
For every hour you work over a 40-hour workweek, employers must pay you an overtime rate — for Idaho, this means time and a half. For minimum wage workers, including Idaho, this is $7.25 plus $3.63 — totaling $10.88. Certain employees of retail or service establishments, employees of railroads and air carriers, taxi drivers, news editors, domestic workers, farmworkers and more are exempt from overtime pay in Idaho.
Fair Labor Standards Act Exemptions in Idaho
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts the following employees from minimum wage and/or overtime pay:
Executive and administrative employees, including some teachers;
Employees working seasonal jobs;
Farmworkers;
Babysitters or elderly/infirmed companions;
Employees of retail or service;
Specific transportation and motor carrier positions;
Motion picture employees;
Employees holding agricultural positions.
Idaho Minimum Wage Increase News
A bill to raise Idaho's minimum wage has been introduced, however, it still needs 55,057 signatures to make it on the November 2020 general election ballot. This call for raise of the minimum wage stems from an assessment of the national poverty line for a family of two, which is $16,910. An annual wage in Idaho on the minimum wage is $15,080.
Lawmakers introduced the bill to be in direct proportion of the Consumer Price Index. They also proposed eliminating training wages and increasing tipped employees' hourly wage.
Desmond Rhodes is a writer out of the Northwest. A philosopher, gamer, and enjoys his Hunter S. Thompson.