We study the impact of changes to the legal minimum wage on different labour market outcomes in Odisha, including employment and wages, worker transitions between covered and uncovered sectors, changes in employment status (such as unemployment and leaving the labour force), and c) the entry and exit from poverty, using an individual level panel data set. We find that workers affected by changes in the legal minimum wage are only those whose starting pay was almost at the minimum (prior to the change in minimum wages). For example, private sector workers who were previously paid within 20% of the legal minimum wage find a significant increase in their compensation and a decrease in employment when the minimum wage increases.The estimates produced from the employment transition equations indicate that the reduction in covered private sector employment is primarily the result of hiring freezes and layoffs. The majority of workers who lose their jobs in the covered private sector as a result of higher legal minimum pay either leave the labour force or take on unpaid family work; a smaller percentage of workers work in the public sector. An increase in the legal minimum wage enhances the likelihood that the family of a poor worker will be able to escape poverty, and this is especially true if the increase benefits the head of the household rather than the other members of the family. This is according to our analysis of the relationship between the minimum wage and household income.