During the 2020 Regular Session, the General Assembly reenacted the Virginia Minimum Wage Act. The new statute stated the Commissioner of Labor and Industry shall establish the adjusted state hourly minimum wage by October 1, 2024, to take effect on January 1, 2025, and then annually thereafter, if the General Assembly did not reenact scheduled increases to the minimum wage rates.
Accordingly, it is the duty of the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to establish the adjusted state hourly minimum wage effective January 1, 2025. Pursuant to the Virginia Minimum Wage Act, the adjusted minimum wage rate shall be a sum of the current minimum wage rate ($12.00 per hour) and a percentage of the current minimum wage rate equal to the change in Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U) for the most recent calendar year, as calculated and published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the Consumer Price Index as “a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.”
In December 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics published an annual increase in CPI-U of 3.4%. Effectually, the nondiscretionary formula for adjusting the Virginia minimum wage rate is $12.00 + ($12.00 x .034). This calculation equals $12.41. This adjusted rate will be in effect from January 1, 2025 to January 1, 2026.
For the period of January 1, 2025, until January 1, 2026, the established adjusted state hourly minimum wage is $12.41 per hour. Employers must pay all employees covered by the Virginia Minimum Wage Act at a rate not less than the adjusted minimum wage rate.
Annual adjustments to the Virginia minimum wage rate will continue in future years by this same methodology. For questions regarding this calculation or Virginia’s minimum wage laws, please contact the Department of Labor and Industry’s Division of Labor and Employment Law at (804) 786-2706 or laborlaw@doli.virginia.gov.
DOLI also sent a letter to business groups in Virginia, to provide notification of the increase, and a copy of the letter can be found here.
