How can I find my state’s and city’s minimum wage?
By understanding minimum wage laws, you can verify whether you’re in compliance with the wages you offer.
As a human resources professional, you should have a good grasp of your state’s own minimum wage laws. By understanding minimum wage laws, you can verify whether employers are in compliance.
Finding the minimum wage for your state
Finding your state’s minimum wage is easy. To do so, visit the United States Department of Labor’s website on Wage and Hour Division (WHD).
Once at the webpage, search for your state’s minimum wage. Since state law controls terms of minimum wage, so long as the state minimum wage is equal to or higher than the federal minimum wage, employers must pay their employees the state minimum wage. Next, you’ll need to google your city to check if it also has a minimum wage.
Finding the minimum wage for your city
What if I want to find the minimum wage for Opelousas, Louisiana? Despite the fact that many states have enacted legislation that places their minimum wage above the federal minimum wage, the state of Louisiana has not adopted a state minimum wage law, according to the National Conference of State Legislation.
In general, employers are required to pay their employees at least a minimum wage that either meets the federal minimum wage or the state minimum wage, whichever is higher. Since Louisiana does not have a state minimum wage law in place, employers are required to pay their employees a minimum wage that complies with federal standards designated in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Currently, the federal minimum standard under the Act is $7.25. Therefore, that figure is the minimum that employers in Louisiana, including in the city of Opelousas, must pay their non-exempt employees.
