2024 Kentucky Minimum Wage
The 2024 Kentucky Minimum Wage is $7.25.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $7.25 | $7.25 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers and employees subject to Kentucky wage and hour law
What changed this year, and why
Kentucky's minimum wage rate for 2024
Common questions
- What is the minimum wage in Kentucky for 2024?
- The minimum wage in Kentucky is $7.25 per hour in 2024. This is the same rate as in 2023.
- What is the minimum wage for tipped employees in Kentucky?
- For tipped employees, the employer may pay a lower cash wage as long as tips bring total earnings to at least the full minimum wage each week.
Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the regular rate
In Kentucky, the overtime premium rate is one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond forty in a workweek. This means that for each hour worked beyond forty in a single workweek, the employee must receive premium pay at this higher rate. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies in Kentucky, and overtime is calculated based on the employee's regular rate of pay.
The rate of pay for time in excess of forty hours shall be not less than one and one-half the hourly rate employed.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
Who to ask about this rate, and where to take a wage complaint
For questions about Kentucky's minimum wage, overtime rules, and other wage and hour laws, employees and employers may contact the Kentucky Labor Cabinet. The phone number listed in the state's wage and hour documentation is (502) 564-3534. This office can provide information about exemptions that may apply to specific situations. Workers in Kentucky who believe their employer has violated wage laws, including the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour or overtime requirements, can direct their complaints to this state labor office. The Kentucky Labor Cabinet enforces the Commonwealth's wage payment and wage deduction rules, including restrictions on fines, breakage, and cash shortages.
Certain exemptions from minimum wage and overtime apply. For questions, please call (502)564-3534.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
When tips, meals or lodging count toward the minimum wage
In Kentucky, tipped employees may be paid a lower direct cash wage. For workers in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips, the employer may pay as little as $2.13 per hour. However, the employer must be able to show through its records that for each week where this credit is taken, the employee's tips plus the wages paid add up to at least the full minimum wage. If the combined amount falls short in any week, the employer must make up the difference. Kentucky law also prohibits employers from using an employee's tips toward the payment of the minimum wage beyond what is allowed, and employers may not require employees to hand over gratuities except for legally required withholdings. Employees may agree among themselves to pool and divide tips, and if an employer requires a tip pool, the account must be kept separate from other business records and open to participants.
Any employee engaged in an occupation in which more than $30 dollars per month is customarily and regularly received in tips, the employer may pay a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid, not less than the minimum wage is received by the employee.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
What an employer may deduct from your pay
In Kentucky, employers generally may not withhold or deduct from an employee's wages. However, the state allows specific exceptions. An employer may deduct amounts that are required by law (such as tax withholdings). An employer may also make deductions that the employee has expressly authorized in writing, such as for insurance premiums or hospital and medical dues. Written authorization may also cover other deductions, so long as they do not amount to a rebate or reduction from the standard wage established by collective bargaining or statute. Union dues may be deducted when authorized by a joint wage agreement or collective bargaining contract. Additionally, Kentucky law prohibits employers from deducting fines, cash shortages from a shared till, breakage, losses from accepting dishonored checks (if the employee had discretion to accept or reject them), and losses from faulty workmanship, lost or stolen property, damage, or customer credit defaults, unless those losses are attributable to the employee's willful or intentional disregard of the employer's interest.
No employer shall deduct the following from the wages of employees: a) Fines b) Cash shortages in a common money till, cash box or register used by two (2) or more persons; c) Breakage; d) Losses due to acceptance by an employee of checks which are subsequently dishonored if such employee is given discretion to accept or reject any check; or e) Losses due to defective or faulty workmanship, lost or stolen property, damage to property, default of customer credit or nonpayment for goods or services received by the customer if such losses are not attributable to employee's willful or intentional disregard of employer's interest.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
- Hourly
MINIMUM WAGE = $7.25 per hour
Other years
Every Kentucky Minimum Wage year · Minimum Wage in every state