Are there exceptions?

Yes. The minimum wage law applies to employers who have at least four staff members and to all domestic workers, but does not otherwise apply to employers with three or fewer employees.

People 24 or younger who work jobs coordinated by nonprofits or the government as part of temporary subsidized youth employment programs are subject to a lower minimum wage of $15 an hour.

Overtime minimum wages also apply — minimum overtime rates are $24.30 for non-tipped employees and $19.12 for tipped workers.

What is the minimum wage for tipped workers?

In October, Chicago’s City Council passed legislation to phase out the subminimum wage.

In most U.S. states and municipalities, it is legal for employers to pay tipped employees such as servers and bartenders an hourly rate lower than the standard minimum wage so long as they pay out any difference between employees’ tips and the standard minimum wage.

Chicago’s minimum wage legislation stipulates that the gap between the tipped and standard minimum wages will shrink each year until parity is reached in summer 2028.

This year, the tipped minimum wage has risen to $11.02 an hour. That’s an hourly bump of just over $2 for tipped workers at small businesses and a raise of more than $1.50 for tipped workers at larger businesses.

Why is Chicago phasing out the tipped minimum wage?

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