By Jackie Borchardt // cleveland.com
Ohio’s minimum hourly wage will increase 5 cents next year because of inflation.
Non-tipped workers must be paid at least $8.15 an hour and tipped workers $4.08 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2017. The wage increase reflects an increase in the Consumer Price Index, which rose .7 percent in the past year.
The wage applies to companies with annual gross receipts of more than $297,000 a year. The state minimum wage for employees at smaller companies and 14- and 15-year-old workers is tied to the federal minimum wage. That wage is currently $7.25 per hour and can only be changed by Congress.
Ohio voters approved annual increases tied to inflation through a 2006 amendment to the state Constitution. In 2016, Ohio’s minimum wage increased by 15 cents to $8.10 an hour and the minimum wage for tipped workers increased 7 cents to $4.05 an hour.