Employees earning less than the amounts specified in each category above may still qualify as exempt, but they must fulfill work requirements more detailed than indicated above. Other employees subject to the Minnesota act but exempt from overtime requirements are: • Seasonal employees of a carnival, circus, fair, or ski resort. • Construction workers of on-farm silos or installers of appurtenant equipment who are paid on a unit or piece rate. • Salesperson, parts person, or mechanic paid on a commission or incentive basis if employed by a non-manufacturing establishment primarily engaged in selling automobiles, trailers, trucks or farm implements to ultimate purchasers. • Employees of a retail or service establishment if the regular rate of pay is in excess of one and one half times the minimum wage and more than half the compensation represents commissions on goods or services.
MINIMUM WAGE REQUIREMENTS
Federal Minimum Wage Requirements The federal minimum wage to be paid by covered employers is $7.25 an hour. These employers include businesses that produce or handle goods for interstate commerce; businesses with annual dollar volume of business of $500,000 or more; and certain other businesses, including hospitals and nursing homes, private and public schools, and federal, state and local government agencies. Minnesota Minimum Wage Requirements Minimum wage applies only to “non-exempt” employees. “Non-exempt” employees are those employees who do not fall within one of the law’s narrow “exempt” categories (e.g. executives, professionals, certain limited administrative employees, outside sales employees, etc. discussed at the end of this section). In practical terms, “non-exempt” is the default classification that applies to the majority of employees. All “non-exempt” employees must receive no less than the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked, keep a written record of all time worked, and receive overtime pay (time and one half) for all hours worked over the applicable number (40 hours under federal wage law; 48 hours under Minnesota wage law) in a workweek (the company’s designated 7-day work period). When both the federal and state wage laws apply and their minimum wages differ, an employer must pay its non-exempt employees the higher applicable minimum wage for each regular hour worked. The current large employer minimum wage, as of January 1, 2024, is $10.89 for 2024. Other state minimum wages, including the small employer, youth and training wages, as well as the summer work travel exchange visitor program wages is $8.85 for 2024. These state minimum wage rates will not apply to work performed in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, which have higher minimum wage rates.
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