Minimum wage to increase in January

Bigger paychecks for Missourians earning minimum wage won't arrive in time for Christmas, but an increase to the state's minimum wage will begin at the start of the new year.

The minimum wage in Missouri is currently $8.60 per hour, and it will increase to $9.45 per hour Jan. 1.

All private businesses are required to pay the minimum wage, except retail and service businesses that have gross sales of less than $500,000, according to a news release from the Missouri Department of Labor.

Tipped employees must earn a total per hour equal to the minimum wage; their employers have to pay at least half of the minimum wage, plus any amount needed to bring employees' compensation to at least $9.45 per hour.

Missouri's minimum wage will continue to increase 85 cents per hour Jan. 1 of each year, until reaching $12 per hour Jan. 1, 2023. After that, the minimum wage will be adjusted on the first day of each year based on changes in the cost of living.

Some other states have similar plans in place to gradually increase their minimum wage over the next several years - including Missouri's neighbors Arkansas and Illinois - according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The minimum wage in Arkansas will reach $11 per hour Jan. 1, 2021, and in Illinois, $15 per hour Jan. 1, 2025.

States that have minimum wage laws - Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee do not - can have exceptions and caveats to their laws on what kind of employers must pay and how much, and on how the state's laws relate to federal law, but generally speaking, according to information on states' minimum wage rates from the federal Department of Labor:

Iowa, Kansas and Kentucky's minimum wages are $7.25 per hour.

Nebraska's minimum wage is $9 per hour for employers with four or more employees.

Larger and more profitable employers in Oklahoma must pay their workers $7.25 per hour, otherwise all other employers in the state must pay at least $2 per hour.

Employers in Tennessee subject to the federal minimum wage law must pay the federal minimum wage.

The scheduled 85 cent increases to Missouri's minimum wage by law do not apply to public employers, including state departments and agencies, municipalities and school districts.

Missouri's minimum wage is also not allowed to be less than the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour.

On the web:

More information on Missouri's minimum wage law is available at labor.mo.gov/DLS/MinimumWage