As a business owner in Virginia, you must follow all laws pertaining to the employment of Virginia residents. One of the most important labour regulations in each state is the minimum wage requirement.
Several U.S. states, including Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee, don’t have their own minimum wages and are thus only required to pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour to their employees. Since the federal minimum wage became the standard in 2009, this is the case. The minimum wage in the other 15 states that have their own minimum has also been maintained at $7.25 per hour by popular vote. North Carolina, Georgia, and North Dakota are only a few examples.
As a result, Virginia has the 19th highest minimum wage in the United States at $12.00 per hour as of the time of this writing, as compared to other states.
In the following sections, we will discuss the current and historic minimum wage in Virginia, the minimum wage for tipped workers, and offer some guidance to business owners who are trying to figure out how to pay their employees a fair income while still running an efficient business.
How much is the legal minimum wage per hour in your state?
The current minimum wage in the state of Virginia is $12.00 per hour for all employers. The following is a history of Virginia’s minimum wage along with its current and previous values, as reported by the US Labour Law Centre.
How can businesses like restaurants and others in Virginia make sure they’re paying their employees the minimum wage?
We have covered the effects of a minimum wage increase on workers, but what about on businesses? Inflation has caused severe harm to many businesses, and several restaurants have claimed that they are unable to pay for qualified workers. In Virginia, eateries must have the financial means to pay their employees at least the minimum wage, preferably more. There has never been a higher minimum wage than there is now.
Since restaurants often only make a profit of 3-5%, their cost structures and profit margins have historically relied more heavily on minimum wage workers than those of other industries. Historically, firms with substantially larger profit margins than the average were able to pay their employees more. The restaurant industry will need to find ways to not just meet but even exceed the minimum wage requirement if we want it to remain a viable employment option, one in which employees want to stay at the same place (and not be forced to work many jobs).
How can restaurants and other small businesses in Virginia provide their employees with more competitive pay?
Much effort has to be done before working at a restaurant can provide a living wage, as was previously said. To begin, the old standard of estimating labour costs at 30% to 35% is no longer accurate. There is a strong likelihood that employment costs will eat up a larger chunk of your operational budget than they did a few years ago.