In December 2014, the City of Chicago City Council passed an ordinance to raise the minimum wage for all Chicago workers to $13 per hour by 2019.  The ordinance raises the minimum wage in steps, beginning with an increase to $10 per hour July 1, 2015.  The minimum wage then increases to $10.50 in 2016, $11 in 2017, $12 in 2018, and $13 in 2019. Over the five year phase in, the increase is projected to raise the earnings for approximately 410,000 Chicago workers and lift 70,000 workers out of poverty.

Key Highlights

• The ordinance requires all employers to pay the new minimum wage of $10 per hour for all employees beginning July 1st 2015, subject to certain limitations.  You can read more about the covered and non-covered employers/employees via this post.
• All businesses operating within Chicago and/or employing persons working within Chicago are required to comply.
• All employers are required to post this Notice to Employers and Employees in each place of business beginning July 1st and include the Notice in each employee’s first paycheck following the July 1st implementation date.
• The full text of the Chicago Minimum Wage Ordinance can be found here.
• The Chicago wage increase follows several other recently passed increases. For a list of the wage in effect in other states, check out this link.
• This increase is for the City of Chicago ONLY.  The proposed wage increase for the State of Illinois appears to be on hold as of the time of this posting.