Illinois’ minimum wage is set for another adjustment on Jan. 1, when the state’s base rate increases to $12 an hour.

 

The rate will continue to rise each year on New Year’s Day until 2025, when it hits $15 an hour. The adjustment comes after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2019 signed legislation to provide a path to grow the state’s minimum wage.

There have been three increases in the minimum wage since the legislation was signed. During 2020, most residents saw two minimum wage increases — first to $9.25 in January, then to $10 in July.

In Chicago, the minimum wage already is $15 an hour for employers that have 21 or more employees and $14 an hour for smaller businesses. The Cook County minimum rate is $13 an hour. Any adjustments to either rate are made July 1, the start of both entities’ fiscal years.

Prior to the increases in 2020, the last time Illinois raised its minimum wage was more than a decade earlier in 2010 when it increased to $8.25. Indiana is among 15 states that follow the federal minimum wage guideline, currently set at $7.25 an hour. That rate last changed in 2008.

A $15 minimum wage would lift more than 200,000 Illinois workers out of poverty, according to a study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute at the University of Illinois.

Workers under the age of 18 who work fewer than 650 hours in a year will earn a minimum wage of $9.25 an hour beginning Jan. 1. That rate will gradually increase to $13 an hour by 2025, according to the governor’s office.

Illinois employers are advised to review their pay plans to make sure that they meet minimum wage obligations. Remember to obtain an updated Illinois minimum wage poster, as well as other labor law posters that employers are required to display.