In West Virginia, the minimum wage is $8.75 per hour. That is $1.50 greater than the federal minimum of $7.25. West Virginia, as one of only a few states, has no law to raise the minimum wage gradually.
West Virginia allows employers to take a tip credit of 70 percent of the minimum wage, meaning employers can pay their tipped workers $2.62 per hour. However, an employee’s tips must bring the hourly wage up to at least West Virginia’s minimum wage of $8.75, or the employer must pay the difference.
Additionally, farm and seasonal workers, nonprofit workers, some students, professionals, administrators, and outside salespersons are also exempt from West Virginia’s minimum wage rules.
In West Virginia, new employees under the age of 20 may get $4.25 per hour for their first 90 days on the job as a sort of “trainee wage.”
For every six consecutive work hours, West Virginia workers are entitled to at least a 20-minute meal break unless they can take a lunch break as needed while working. Breaks of up to 20 minutes are counted as work time.
In West Virginia, the minimum wage applies to all employers that have six or more workers unless they are specifically exempt from the state’s minimum pay (read more below).
West Virginia Paycheck Calculator
This West Virginia Paycheck Calculator translates your hourly pay into weekly, yearly, and monthly earnings.
How to use this West Virginia paycheck calculator
- To start, put in your hourly pay.
- Then, put in the number of your weekly hours.
- The paycheck calculator now instantly shows you how your hourly pay relates to monthly, yearly, or weekly earnings.
How does the West Virginia paycheck calculator work?
For hourly employees, it may be complicated to understand what their hourly pay means in terms of yearly, monthly, or weekly earnings.
For employees who are paid periodically, for instance, per month or per week, it is different as they will get their paychecks when the salary period is over. So to help hourly employees figure out what their hourly pay means in terms of weekly, yearly, or monthly wages, we developed this paycheck calculator.
This is how it works. You only need to put in your hourly pay and how many hours you work in a week. Then, the paycheck calculator shows you instantly what your hourly pay would be per year, week, or month.
| Time period | Equation |
| Annual pay = | hourly earnings times 40 hours times 52 weeks |
| Monthly pay = | annual earnings divided by 12 months |
| Weekly pay = | hourly earnings times 40 hours |
These results are generated by multiplying your base hourly pay by the number of hours, weeks, or months you work annually, assuming you work 40 hours a week.
Minimum Wage in West Virginia
So West Virginia’s minimum wage is $8.75 per hour, translating to $70.00 per day, $350.00 per week (at 40 working hours), $1516.67 per month, and $18,200.00 per year.
As said earlier, not all West Virginia employees will receive state minimum wage. Some students, voluntary charitable workers, and some seasonal and agricultural workers are exempt from West Virginia’s minimum wage and/or overtime regulations.
West Virginia minimum wage exemptions
In West Virginia, several worker categories hold exempt status from minimum wage and/or overtime regulations. The following list is not complete, but it includes the main categories. The following West Virginia positions are exempt from the state’s minimum wage requirements:
- Administrative, professional, and executive employees, as well as employees of the federal government.
- Tipped employees in West Virginia may get $2.62 an hour, but if their hourly wage isn’t at the state minimum level (including tips), employers must pay the difference.
- Agricultural workers, outside salespersons, traveling salespersons, drivers covered by federal DOT regulations, and state-employed firefighters.
- Motorbus carrier drivers, golf caddies, theater ushers, news delivery boys, shoe shine boys, bowling pin chasers, and summer camp workers.
- Handicapped persons working in nonprofit sheltered workshops and individuals 62 years of age and up that receive social security benefits.
- Individuals working for West Virginia’s House of Delegates, State Senate, and more Government Committees.
- Volunteers engaged in nonprofit, charitable, educational, fraternal, or religious organizations and immediate family members (parent, child, or spouse) of a West Virginia employer.
- Part-time students taking part in university work-learn programs for no more than 24 hours a week, and on-the-job trainees engaged in vocational programs. Full-time college and high school students working on a part-time basis can be paid 85 percent ($7.44) of West Virginia’s minimum wage.
- West Virginia employers are allowed to pay new employees under 20 years of age $4.25 an hour as a training wage during their first 90 days on the job.
All West Virginia employers, as required by Fair Labor Standards Act regulations, must clearly display state-designated informative posters with state and federal minimum wage and overtime regulations in highly visible locations. This way, their employees can learn all about their rights under federal and state law.
West Virginia overtime wage
In West Virginia, employees must get overtime pay if they work over 40 hours in a regular week. However, not every employee or position qualifies for overtime pay. West Virginia has no limit on daily overtime hours.
If West Virginia employees work in excess of 40 hours a week, employers are required to pay the employees 1.5 times their regular wage for qualifying overtime hours. West Virginia’s overtime regulations apply to companies with six or more employees except those that are exempt.
So, in West Virginia, that means that overtime hours must be compensated at a level of at least $13.12 per qualifying overtime hour. There are, however, some categories that are exempt from the state’s overtime regulations.
The following is not a full overview, but it lists the main categories that are exempt from West Virginia’s overtime regulations:
- Employees working on ranches, farms, and agricultural businesses, shoeshines, pin chasers in bowling lanes, golf caddies, ushers in theaters, and summer camp workers may be exempt.
- Outside salespeople, executives, administrators, “learned professionals,” such as CPAs, lawyers, or nurses, and some computer specialists may also hold exempt status.
- Newspaper delivery persons and individuals that are immediate family members of the employer are exempt from West Virginia’s overtime rules.
- Employees over the age of 62 who get Social Security benefits and disabled persons working in sheltered workshops are also exempt.
In West Virginia, nurses are not allowed to work in excess of 16 hours a day. If they work 12 or more consecutive hours, they must have an 8-hour off-duty break after their shift. Exceptions are allowed in case of emergencies and to complete a patient’s care procedure in progress.
Nothing in this post constitutes legal advice. So, if you have any questions about West Virginia’s minimum wage and/or overtime laws or compliance, please consult a tax professional or tax attorney.