City of St. Paul Releases Details on Minimum Wage Increase

The Saint Paul City Council adopted a new minimum wage ordinance, effective January 1, 2020, depending on the size of the business. It will incrementally increases over the next several years to reach a $15 minimum wage based on the size of the organization.

Below are details to get you started. You can also read more information about how this ordinance came into being and MCNs role in the process here. Saint Paul will be issuing additional information about enforcement, organizational support, the private right of action, new notices, postings, and anti-retaliation obligations with which employers must comply. We will update here with more information as it becomes available but start here and we’ll update with more information. You are also welcome to call directly to talk through how this might impact your organization directly.

The schedule for the wage increases depends on whether an employer is classified as a “macro,” “large,” “small,” or “micro” business:

·         Macro: More than 10,000 employees with the following wage schedule:

Effective Date

Hourly Minimum Wage

January 1, 2020

$12.50

July 1, 2022

$15.00

January 1, 2023

Yearly adjustments begin

 

·         Large: More than 100 employees with the following wage schedule:

Effective Date

Hourly Minimum Wage

July 1, 2020

$11.50

July 1, 2021

$12.50

July 1, 2022

$13.50

July 1, 2023

$15.00

July 1, 2024

Same rate that applies to the City of St. Paul (which is currently the macro rate)

 

·         Small: 100 or fewer employees

Effective Date

Hourly Minimum Wage

July 1, 2020

$10.00

July 1, 2021

$11.00

July 1, 2022

$12.00

July 1, 2023

$13.00

July 1, 2024

$14.00

July 1, 2025

$15.00

 

·         Micro: 5 or fewer employees

Effective Date

Hourly Minimum Wage

July 1, 2020

$9.25

July 1, 2021

$10.00

July 1, 2022

$10.75

July 1, 2023

$11.50

July 1, 2024

$12.25

July 1, 2025

$13.25

July 1, 2026

$14.25

July 1, 2027

$15.00

 

Employers based in Saint Paul or employers who regularly send employees into Saint Paul for 2 or more hours per week should start planning to comply with the new ordinance. Many nonprofits surveyed are already paying its employees more than $12.50 per hour so will not be impacted for the first several phase-in periods. A great starting place for your organization is to review how many staff are impacted, and when. Then you will be able to best determine how to put together options and a plan for your organization.

Nonprofits are an important part of the economy. We are a desirable sector that provides a positive work experience, recruiting and retaining the best as part of thriving economy where both staff and the communities we partner in can be successful. However, we recognize that workplace policies need to be reasonable to implement – especially where there are financial mechanisms that create barriers for some in our sector. MCN advocates on nonprofit employment matters and and continues to thoughtfully advocate for nonprofits and the communities we partner with as we move into the implementation and enforcement stage of this ordinance.