Montana’s Minimum Wage Will Increase $7.90 Per Hour January 1

The minimum wage in Montana will increase from $7.80 per hour to $7.90 per hour on January 1, 2014, according to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

Montana Code Annotated 39-3-409 requires a minimum wage adjustment annually based on changes in inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from August of the preceding year to August of the year in which the calculation is made. An adjustment to the minimum wage is to be calculated no later than September 30 of each year based upon any increase in the CPI, rounded to the nearest five cents.

The current 2013 minimum wage rate is $7.80. Based on an increase in the CPI of 1.5% from August, 2012 to August, 2013, the calculation used for determining the minimum wage rate for 2014 is as follows:

$7.80 × .015% = $.12, rounded to $0.10

A business not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4.00 per hour; However, if an individual employee is producing or moving goods between states or otherwise covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, that employee must be paid the greater of either the federal minimum wage or Montana’s minimum wage.

No tip credit, training wage or meal credit is allowed in the state of Montana.

Montana is one of 18 states that have a higher minimum wage than the national minimum wage of $7.25. Washington has the highest minimum wage at $9.19. Montana is also one of 10 states that adjust the minimum wage based on inflation and the CPI. The others are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington (Oregon recently announced it will increase its minimum wage to $9.10 per hour and Washington announced it would increase the state minimum wage to $9.32 per hour in 2014).