Idaho’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Idaho Code § 44-1502. Idaho has chosen to mirror the federal minimum wage, which is established in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 29 U.S.C.S. § 206(a)(1)(C). Some states have not kept up with the federal minimum wage. For example, the rate under Wyoming statutes governing minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, but federal law trumps any state law with a minimum wage lower than $7.25 an hour, the federal rate. States can choose, however, to increase the minimum wage above the federal rate, and 29 states have chosen to do so. Only a few of these states have rates above $9.00-$10.00 an hour, but some, like California and New York, have enacted laws that will eventually bring the minimum wage up to as high as $15.00 an hour.
Federal law also requires that all employees receive overtime pay after working forty hours a week. Overtime is one and one-half times the regular rate of pay. 29 U.S.C.S. § 207(a)(1). Thus, for Idaho employees who are paid minimum wage, overtime pay can be no lower than $10.88 an hour.
An employer must keep records of each employee’s worked hours so that every employee is properly paid. See 29 U.S.C.S. § 211(c); 29 C.F.R. § 516.2(a)(7). If the employer does not track and properly pay minimum wage and overtime amounts, he could find himself being sued by an employee and could be forced to pay three times the amount owing, in addition to attorney fees and other costs. See Idaho Code § 44-1508(2); Idaho Code § 45-615(2).
If you are an Idaho employer or employee who has questions about minimum wage and overtime, as well as your duties or rights under the FLSA, contact one of our employment and labor lawyers at Racine Olson. We can help solve your problem.