2008 Woodie Awards
Minimum wage to increase Jan. 1
Raise is due to 2006 legislation that allows for yearly inflation
Sarah Foster
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Community
The Ohio minimum wage will increase this January due to state amendment passed in November 2006, which required the rate to be adjusted yearly for inflation.
The minimum wage will increase to $7 from its current hourly rate of $6.85. This rate is applied to all non-tipped employees.
Tipped employees will see their minimum wage increase from $3.43 an hour to $3.50 an hour, according to Dennis Ginty, media relations contact for the Ohio Department of Commerce.
"Ohio citizens voted to make this law go into effect, so the minimum wage will be increasing each January by the current inflation rate," Ginty said.
The increase is set to take affect Jan. 1, 2008, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
The inflation adjustment for Ohio's minimum wage is based on the Consumer Price Index. This year, 2007, the CPI rose 2 percent in the 12-month period starting Oct. 1, 2006 and ending Sept. 30, 2007, according to the Ohio Dept. of Commerce press Web site.
Josh Seidel, manager of Kona Bistro, said that the minimum wage increase would not change or impact any of the restaurant's current business practices. He said that this is because Kona is a smaller business with less than 50 employees and the increased labor costs will not be substantial enough.
He said that the last minimum wage increase did impact areas such as employee scheduling, hours and menu pricing.
"We definitely had to monitor our wait staff budget a little more and had to start thinking about how to offset the labor cost increase," Siedel said.
He said that as a result of the increased minimum wage, menu prices also increased slightly.
Cathy Pierce; senior director of administration and human services for Miami University's Housing, Dining and Guest Services; said that the office is monitoring the costs very carefully in order to prepare for the next increase in the minimum wage.
"We are keeping an eye on our labor and costs," Pierce said. "We really have to be careful how we support our costs."
The minimum wage will increase to $7 from its current hourly rate of $6.85. This rate is applied to all non-tipped employees.
Tipped employees will see their minimum wage increase from $3.43 an hour to $3.50 an hour, according to Dennis Ginty, media relations contact for the Ohio Department of Commerce.
"Ohio citizens voted to make this law go into effect, so the minimum wage will be increasing each January by the current inflation rate," Ginty said.
The increase is set to take affect Jan. 1, 2008, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce.
The inflation adjustment for Ohio's minimum wage is based on the Consumer Price Index. This year, 2007, the CPI rose 2 percent in the 12-month period starting Oct. 1, 2006 and ending Sept. 30, 2007, according to the Ohio Dept. of Commerce press Web site.
Josh Seidel, manager of Kona Bistro, said that the minimum wage increase would not change or impact any of the restaurant's current business practices. He said that this is because Kona is a smaller business with less than 50 employees and the increased labor costs will not be substantial enough.
He said that the last minimum wage increase did impact areas such as employee scheduling, hours and menu pricing.
"We definitely had to monitor our wait staff budget a little more and had to start thinking about how to offset the labor cost increase," Siedel said.
He said that as a result of the increased minimum wage, menu prices also increased slightly.
Cathy Pierce; senior director of administration and human services for Miami University's Housing, Dining and Guest Services; said that the office is monitoring the costs very carefully in order to prepare for the next increase in the minimum wage.
"We are keeping an eye on our labor and costs," Pierce said. "We really have to be careful how we support our costs."
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