Virginia minimum wage to increase to $12 starting Jan. 1; DC's Initiative 82 going into effect in 2023

The minimum wage in Virginia will increase to $12 an hour on Jan. 1, and D.C.'s recently passed Initiative 82 will go into effect in 2023, raising the minimum wage for tipped workers to $6 an hour.

Virginia's minimum wage increase is part of a law passed in 2020 that raises the minimum wage gradually until it reaches $15 an hour in 2026. The current minimum wage in Virginia is $11 an hour.

Here is the schedule for Virginia's minimum wage increases:

- From January 2023 to January 2025: $12

- From January 2025 to January 2026: $13.50

- From January 2026 to January 2027: $15

After Jan. 1, 2027, the minimum wage will be $15 an hour.

How Initiative 82 will impact businesses, customers

On Tuesday, D.C. residents voted overwhelming to pass Initiative 82, doing away with the District’s tipped minimum wage. So, how will that impact businesses and customers? FOX 5's Stephanie Ramirez explains.

Meanwhile, in D.C., voters passed Initiative 82 in November which will require D.C. employers to pay $16.10 an hour to tipped employees regardless of how much they earn in gratuity.

Currently, tipped workers make $5.35 an hour as long as they make enough tips to meet the $16.10 threshold. The new pay increase will be phased in over five years.

On Jan. 1, 2023, the minimum wage for tipped workers is slated to increase to $6 an hour. However, the act can only take effect after a 30-day period of congressional review, which has not yet taken place.

Here is the schedule for Initiative 82's minimum wage increases, according to the legislative text:

- $6 per hour by Jan. 1, 2023

- $8 per hour by July 1, 2023

- $10 per hour by July 1, 2024

- $12 per hour by July 1, 2025

- $14 per hour by July 1, 2026

- Equal to non-tipped workers by July 1, 2027

Restaurant servers, bartenders, bar backs, nail salon workers and parking attendants are all examples of who could be impacted.

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