Hawaiʻi’s Minimum Wage to Increase to $7.75 in New Year

Photo by Wendy Osher.

By Maui Now Staff

Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage for most employers will increase to $7.75 per hour beginning on Jan. 1, 2015 under Act 82.

Hawaiʻi State Department of Labor & Industrial Relations Director Dwight Takamine announced the implementation of the law saying, “This increase will boost consumer demand and jobs because minimum and low-wage workers spend most if not all of their increased wages and therefore will generate economic activity and contribute to Hawaiʻi’s strengthening economy.”

As a provision of the measure, the minimum wage will rise again to $8.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2016, to $9.25 per hour on Jan. 1, 2017, and $10.10 per hour on Jan. 1, 2018.

Under the new law, tipped employees may be paid 50 cents below the minimum wage beginning on Jan. 1, 2015 and 75 cents below the minimum wage beginning on Jan. 1, 2016, as long as the combined amount the employee receives from their employer and tips is at least $7 more than the minimum wage.

Department officials say Hawaiʻi’s unemployment rate was 4% in October, while the record labor force included 669,850 individuals.