Comp News – As of July 1, Chicago’s minimum wage is now $15 per hour for any employer with over 20 employees.

Smaller businesses that employ between four and 20 people will have their minimum wage set at $14 per hour. This will increase to reach $15 per hour by 2023.

Workers in the restaurant industry also received compensation increases.

Restaurant workers and others who receive tips will now get a base rate of $9 per hour. But if they don’t make $15 per hour on average overall, employers must make up the difference to reach that new citywide minimum wage.

And for youth workers, the minimum wage is now $11 per hour, rising until it reaches $15 an hour by 2025, when there will no longer be an exemption to the city’s minimum wage ordinance for employees under 18.

Chicago leads its state in having the highest minimum wage mandated by a city, but Illinois will catch up over the next few years.

The $15 per hour minimum wage starting in Chicago on Thursday makes it the highest minimum wage in Illinois currently – though the state will eventually reach $15 an hour as well.

Illinois’ statewide minimum wage increased to $11 on Jan. 1 and will continue to gradually rise until it reaches $15 at the beginning of 2025.

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