Nearly 500 OSF Healthcare employees are getting a raise. Illinois' fourth largest health system, based in Peoria, is raising the minimum hourly wage to $10, effective Nov. 22, according to the Journal Star.
The minimum wage in Illinois is currently $8.25 per hour. The pay raise affects 482 employees, or about 3 percent of OSF's workforce of 17,000. Most of those who will see higher paychecks work in food services, housekeeping, gift shops or guest services, according to the report.
Raising minimum hourly wages to $10 is the "socially-just wage," according to OSF Healthcare CEO Kevin Schoeplein.
"We have made the decision to increase the minimum wage because it is the right thing to do," Sister Judith Ann Duvall, major superior and chairwoman of the system's board of directors, said in an announcement released Thursday, according to the report.
The estimated financial impact on the health system will be about $500,000 per year.