2023 West Virginia Minimum Wage
The 2023 West Virginia Minimum Wage is $8.75.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Minimum Wage (West Virginia Division of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly | $8.75 | $8.75 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in West Virginia with six or more non-exempt employees working at any one separate, distinct, and permanent work location. Employers with fewer than six employees at a single location may be subject to the federal minimum wage instead, which is lower than the state rate.
What changed this year, and why
West Virginia's state minimum wage remained $8.75 per hour in 2023, the same as in 2022.
Common questions
- When does the West Virginia state minimum wage apply?
- The state minimum wage of $8.75 per hour applies when six or more non-exempt employees work at any one separate, distinct, and permanent work location. When fewer than six employees work at a single location, the federal minimum wage may apply instead.
Minors, students and training wages: who may be paid less than the rate on this page
In West Virginia, workers who are twenty years of age or younger may be paid a training wage that is less than the standard minimum wage, but only during their first 90 days of employment. However, West Virginia’s minimum wage standards defer jurisdiction over training wages to the United States Department of Labor whenever federal standards meet or exceed state requirements. Because the federal requirement currently meets that standard, the U.S. Department of Labor has jurisdiction in the state over training wages. Employers and workers with questions about this subminimum wage should contact the federal Wage & Hour Division directly.
A training wage is an established hourly wage that is less than the standard minimum wage, which applies to workers that are twenty years of age or younger during their first 90 days of employment. West Virginia’s minimum wage standards specifically defer jurisdiction relating to training wages to the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) whenever the federal standards are equal to, or great than, the requirements of state law. As the federal requirement currently meets that standard, the USDOL has jurisdiction in this state relating to training wages.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Overtime is paid at one and one-half times the regular rate
West Virginia's maximum hour standards require employers to pay overtime wages at a rate of one and a half times the employee's regular rate of pay for all hours actually worked over forty in a seven consecutive day workweek. This state overtime premium applies as long as all of the following conditions are met: the employer is not covered by federal overtime laws due to interstate commerce activity or federal enterprise coverage; less than 80% of the employer's workforce performs duties that would be considered interstate commerce activity under federal law; and the employer has at least six non-exempt employees working at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location.
West Virginia's maximum hour standards require the payment of overtime wages at a rate of one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours actually worked over forty, within a seven consecutive day workweek, as long as all of the following conditions are also met. 1.) The employer is not covered by federal overtime laws due to interstate commerce activity or federal enterprise coverage. 2.) Less than 80% of the employer’s work force are performing duties that would be considered interstate commerce activity under federal law. 3.) The employer has at least six or more non-exempt employees working at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Who to ask about this rate, and where to take a wage complaint
West Virginia workers with questions about minimum wage rates or concerns about wage violations should contact the United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Although the state minimum wage of 8.75 per hour is set by West Virginia law, the Division of Labor FAQ directs workers to the federal agency for information about minimum wage jurisdiction and enforcement. Workers can reach the U.S. Department of Labor at www.dol.gov or by calling 866-487-9243 (866-4USWAGE). This contact information applies to questions about whether state or federal minimum wage requirements apply to a particular employment situation, as well as questions about training wages, tip credits, and other minimum wage provisions. The federal Wage and Hour Division handles inquiries about minimum wage coverage and can provide guidance on filing complaints if an employer is not paying the required wages.
For information concerning federal minimum wage jurisdiction, contact the United States Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division. Contact information for that agency is as follows: www.dol.gov – 866 487 9243 (866–4USWAGE)
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
State minimum wage laws that give more than the federal rate
West Virginia's state minimum wage of 8.75 per hour is currently higher than the federal minimum wage. This means that when an employer meets the state's requirement of having at least six non-exempt employees working at one separate, distinct and permanent work location, the state rate applies and workers must receive at least 8.75 per hour. However, if an employer has fewer than six employees at a particular work location, the state minimum wage requirements do not apply, and the federal minimum wage may still apply to those employees instead. The federal and state systems work together to ensure that West Virginia workers receive minimum wage protection, with the higher rate applying when both state and federal laws cover the same employer. Workers should understand that the six-employee threshold at each work location determines whether they are covered by the state rate of 8.75 or by the federal minimum wage requirements.
As the state minimum wage requirement is currently higher than the federal, the state minimum wage will apply in all cases where there are at least six non-exempt employees working at one location. However, if the six employee requirement is not met, the federal minimum wage may still apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
When tips, meals or lodging count toward the minimum wage
West Virginia allows employers to take a tip credit against the minimum wage requirement for service employees who receive tips. The employer may pay tipped employees a cash wage of 2.62 per hour, which represents a 70% credit against the state minimum wage of 8.75 per hour. However, this arrangement is only lawful if the employee's hourly cash wage plus reported tips equals at least 8.75 per hour. If the combined total falls short of 8.75, the employer must make up the difference. Employers must maintain written tip records completed by the employee to take the tip credit. Without proper tip records, the employer must pay the full minimum wage of 8.75 per hour. Additionally, West Virginia law specifies that only employees eligible to receive tips may participate in tip pools, and employers are prohibited from taking any share of employees' tips under any circumstances.
West Virginia’s minimum wage standards allow employers a 70% credit against the minimum wage requirement for their service employees that receive tips. That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
What an employer may deduct from your pay
West Virginia employers may deduct meal costs from employee wages under specific conditions. When an employer provides meals and the employee works a full eight hours, the employer may deduct 4.00 per day as a meal credit without obtaining written authorization from the employee. If the employee works less than eight hours but still eats a meal, the employer may deduct 50 cents per hour as a meal credit. However, if the employee does not actually eat the meal that was provided, the employer cannot take any meal credit deduction. These meal deductions reduce the employee's cash wages, so employers must ensure that after deductions, the employee still receives at least the minimum wage of 8.75 per hour unless the employee is covered by a tip credit arrangement that meets all legal requirements. The meal credit provisions allow employers to offset the cost of providing food to workers while maintaining compliance with wage laws.
When an employer makes meals available to an employee and the employee works a full eight hours, the employer may deduct $4.00 per day as a meal credit from the employee’s wages without obtaining written authorization. If the employee works less than eight hours but still eats a meal, the employer may deduct $.50 per hour as a meal credit.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Why the federal rate applies when the state rate is lower
When an employer in West Virginia has fewer than six non-exempt employees at a particular work location, the state minimum wage requirements do not apply to that location. In this situation, the federal minimum wage may still apply to those employees. This means that even though the state rate of 8.75 per hour is higher than the federal rate, workers at small employment locations with fewer than six employees are not covered by West Virginia's state minimum wage law. Instead, they may be covered by federal minimum wage requirements, which could be lower than 8.75. The six-employee threshold must be met at each separate, distinct and permanent work location for the state law to apply. This means that employees of the same employer working at different locations may be subject to different wage requirements depending on how many employees work at each specific site. Workers at locations with fewer than six employees should contact the U.S. Department of Labor to determine their federal minimum wage coverage.
Any employee working at a location that does not have the required six employees would not be covered by state minimum wage requirements, however federal minimum wage requirements may apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
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.
Minimum Wage (West Virginia Division of Labor)
- Hourly
the state minimum wage of $8.75 will apply whenever there are six (6) or more non-exempt employees
Other years
Every West Virginia Minimum Wage year · Minimum Wage in every state