Minnesota nursing home workers are getting a pay raise starting Thursday.
The state's minimum wage standards received federal approval last month, meaning thousands of workers will get new hourly wage floors across four job categories.
DFL State Representative Esther Agbaje told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that it's been a long time coming.
"And so, we want to make sure that we're keeping people who have trained for this type of job, want to give that bedside care, want to support our families who are in are in nursing homes, and I think the least we can do is making sure that they have better working conditions to do that," Rep. Agbaje explains.
$36 million in federal and state Medicaid dollars are being used to establish the wage floor for those workers.
"We're hoping that if we can meet those needs, we can start to see better recruitment and retention of workers in these areas," adds Agbaje. "Which is what we want to do because we know at the end of the day our goal is to ensure that our nursing homes continue to work well, continue to have people in them who want to be there, and who can do their job well."
Minnesota's DFL trifecta passed legislation in 2023 creating the Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, which approved the wage floors a year later.
An additional increase of $1.50 per hour across all categories is scheduled for January 1, 2027.
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry lists the new minimum hourly pay floors:
- General nursing home worker: $19.00 per hour
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): $22.50 per hour
- Trained Medication Aide (TMA): $23.50 per hour
- Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): $27.00 per hour
"I think the least we can do is making sure that they have better working conditions"
"I think the least we can do is making sure that they have better working conditions"
