As a result of these state laws, the Connecticut minimum wage rose on January 1, 2009 by 35 cents, going from $7.65 per hour to $8.00 per hour. On January 1, 2010, the minimum will increase again by 25 cents to $8.25 per hour.

Unlike other states, including Florida and Washington, Connecticut does not increase its minimum wage each year to adjust for inflation. Instead, the Connecticut minimum wage is statutory, meaning that increases were voted in as a part of state law.

Connecticut law allows employers to take a tip credit of 29.3% against the minimum wage for tipped workers. Tipped employees, then, are entitled to $5.66 per hour.

According to Connecticut statutes, Section 31-76b, Section 31-76c, and Section 31-76i, overtime applies to all employees working more than 40 hours in a payroll week at the rate of 1.5 times the usual hourly rate of pay. Employers are not legally obligated, however, to pay overtime for holiday, vacation, paid time-off, or any other situation where the worker does not physically work more than 40 hours per week.

Certain groups of employees, including executives, professional and administrative employees are exempt from overtime. Relevant laws are Section 31-60-14, 15, 16 of the Administrative Regulations.

Also according to a lesser-known section of Connecticut law, employers may pay certain groups of minors less than the minimum wage. These groups include minors working in agriculture and government and are paid 85% of the minimum or $6.80 per hour. In other classes of occupations, under Section 31-58 and Section 31-58a, minors may be paid the lower wage of $6.80 per hour, but only for the first 200 hours of work.

Connecticut employers are allowed to change a worker’s pay, duties, hours or benefits, but only after the notifying the employee, in writing, in advance of the pay period. Companies are not allowed to withhold salary for loans or for overpayments. They may only make the deductions which are required by law.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 18th, 2009 at 5:43 am and is filed under Labor & Employment Laws, Minimum Wage Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.