In Kentucky, the minimum wage level matches that of the federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. Federal law requires that whichever wage is higher, state or federal, will be paid to employees.
Some employees are exempt from Kentucky’s minimum wage requirements, including some college or high school students, tipped workers, and certain disabled workers, provided they hold certificates from Kentucky’s Department of Labor.
Like in several other states, there are ongoing talks about increasing Kentucky’s minimum wage standards incrementally over the coming years, but unfortunately, though there are bills in the making, nothing has been confirmed so far.
Kentucky employers can pay new employees under the age of 20 an initial hourly pay of 85 percent of the state minimum wage, so $6.16 per hour, but only for the first 90 days.
Hospitality workers and other tipped workers can be paid $2.13/hour, but if their hourly wage doesn’t reach the $7.25 level, their employers are required to compensate the worker.
More examples of exempt employees in Kentucky are full-time high school or college students engaged in a work-study program at a university or college, who may get paid 85% ($6.16) of Kentucky’s minimum hourly wage.
Kentucky Paycheck Calculator
Our Kentucky Paycheck Calculator is a fantastic help to learn how your hourly pay translates to weekly, monthly, or annual wages.
How to use our Kentucky paycheck calculator
- First step: put in your hourly pay.
- Second step: put in the number of your weekly work hours.
- Then, our paycheck calculator converts your hourly pay to weekly, monthly, or annual wages.
How does the Kentucky paycheck calculator work?
Kentucky workers with regular jobs will probably understand their earnings and paychecks relatively easily. They will receive a paycheck periodically (weekly, biweekly, or monthly), and by the end of the year, they’ll get their tax forms.
So an employee with a periodical paycheck will not have a hard time figuring out what his earnings are. For workers who receive pay by the hour, however, things could get more complicated. For these employees, it could be a complex task to determine how their hourly pay translates to weekly, monthly, or annual earnings.
To help these workers, we have designed this paycheck calculator, a fantastic tool that will show you how to quickly determine how your hourly pay translates to periodical earnings per year, month, or week.
| Time period | Equation |
| Annual earnings = | hourly pay times 40 hours times 52 weeks |
| Monthly earnings = | annual pay divided by 12 months |
| Weekly earnings = | hourly pau times 40 hours |
These results are generated by multiplying your base hourly salary by the number of hours, weeks, or months you work yearly, assuming that you’re working 40 hours per week.
Minimum Wage in Kentucky
So in Kentucky, the state minimum hourly wage that employees must receive from their employers is $7.25, just like the federal minimum standard. This relates to $58 a day, $290 a week (at 40 work hours), $1257 a month, and $15,080 a year.
As stated earlier, not all Kentucky workers will receive the state’s minimum hourly rate. Employees who receive gratuities, certain full-time college or high school students on a part-time job, some handicapped workers, and a few other groups hold exempt status and may get paid less than the state’s minimum requirements.
Minimum wage exemptions in Kentucky
There are groups of workers that are specifically exempt from Kentucky’s minimum wage rates under state and federal law. The following categories do not represent a complete overview, but these are some main categories:
- Hospitality workers receiving gratuity payments are eligible for up to $5.12 “tip credit,” but their employer must pay them $2.13 an hour. If the employee doesn’t reach the $7.25 hourly rate, the employer must compensate the worker.
- Student employees that work up to 20 hours a week can receive 85% of the Kentucky minimum wage rate, so $6.16 an hour, if they work in a work-learn program provided by an institution of higher learning.
- If employers hire a new worker younger than 20 years of age, they can pay them a so-called ‘”training wage” of only $4.25 an hour during the first 90 days.
- Certain disabled workers are also exempt from Kentucky’s minimum wage laws.
Kansas overtime wage
The U.S. Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers overtime pay regulations in Kentucky. If an employee works more than 40 hours in a week, he will receive 1.5 times the standard pay for those qualifying hours. In Kentucky, there is no weekly limit on overtime hours.
Overtime hours are counted over a week, not per day. Some employees may be exempt from Kentucky’s overtime hour regulations, such as farmland workers, some government employees, or certain small retail business employees.
In Kentucky, every employer must clearly display state-approved minimum wage posters in prominent, highly visible locations, so the employees are informed about Kentucky’s minimum hourly wage laws, as well as their rights under state and federal law.
What is considered work time?
Work time includes the hours that employees perform assignments and/or duties on behalf of their employers who control and/or initiate those activities.
The time required for relevant training and education is considered work time as well. If a job involves traveling, for example, to contact clients or to travel from client to client, these travel hours are considered work time. The time for daily commuting between home and work is not seen as work time.
Please note that this post doesn’t contain legal advice. If you have any questions about Kentucky’s minimum wage policies or minimum wage compliance, consult a tax professional or a tax attorney.