UNC Health Care to raise minimum wage to $15 for 9,000 employees

UNC Health Care announced Tuesday its plans to boost employees' minimum hourly wage to $15 next year.

Minimum wage will be adjusted to $14 per hour on Jan. 13, 2019, then to $15 in July 2019, officials announced.

The new rate of pay is more than double the federal and state minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

“We are committed to providing a competitive living wage to support our workforce,” said Dr. Bill Roper, CEO of UNC Health Care. “We are proud to employ the best people to fulfill our mission of caring for patients and their families, and offering a higher living wage is an important step we are able to take.”

The new minimum wage will affect about 9,000 housekeepers, stock clerks, nursing assistants, cashiers and other employees across the Triangle at the UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, at UNC REX Healthcare in Raleigh and at UNC Physicians Network in the Triangle.

The adjustment will cost UNC Health Care about $15 million a year.