In January, Ohio's minimum-wage earners will get a slight pay bump. The $8.15 they currently make per hour will increase to $8.30, in accordance with a 2006 minimum wage ballot initiative that requires wage adjustments in line with inflation.
(The 15-cent increase is not at all what activists mean when they mention the "Fight for 15." That fight references the pursuit of $15 minimum wage, an effort that was derailed by local elected leaders in 2016.)
According to researchers at Policy Matters Ohio, the new adjustment, which affects about 146,000 workers, will generate more than $106 million in wages across the state. Nearly 500,000 other workers who earn slightly more than the minimum may also receive slight wage increases "as employers adjust to maintain pay scales."
“Next week’s raise will help poor working Ohioans, but $8.30 per hour still leaves a full-time worker about $3,000 short of the poverty line for a family of three,” said Michael Shields, a researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. “It’s time for Ohio to pass a state-level thoughtfully phased-in $15 per hour minimum wage.”
Tipped workers, whom employers are legally allowed to pay less than minimum wage, will also see a slight increase, but only of seven cents per hour.
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