Federal Minimum Wage Increase
A Federal minimum wage increase of 70 cents per hour is now in effect.
The new minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, effective July 24, 2009.
The Federal minimum wage is also referred
to as the national minimum wage. States may set their own. More
about that is below.
In May of 2007, former President George Bush signed a new minimum wage
law that authorized three annual increases in increments of 70 cents, beginning
on the effective date of July 24, 2007.
As a result, the increase of 70 cents effective on July 24, 2009 is the
third and final of the three increases authorized under the new law. The
current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour will remain in effect until new legislation increases
it.
The new minimum wage law is entitled the Fair
Minimum Wage Act of 2007. It amended the original minimum wage law
entitled the Fair Labor Standards Act
of 1938 (FLSA), which also regulates equal
pay, overtime pay and child
labor.
The Small
Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007 goes hand-in-hand with
the new minimum wage law. It provides tax relief for small businesses,
to ease their burden of paying the new minimum wage.
The Federal minimum wage is the least hourly amount that employers may
pay workers who are covered by the FLSA. Before President Bush authorized
the new minimum wage and subsequent increases, workers who relied on it
to make ends meet had not seen a minimum wage increase since 1997. Needless
to say, the minimum wage increases were a long time coming.
The state or municipality in which you work might have implemented an
earlier minimum wage increase. For example, on January 1, 2009, San Francisco's minimum
wage law (ordinance)
mandated $9.79 per hour, while California's equivalent
law mandated $8.00 across the state.
The minimum
wage was scheduled to increase in several states to match the new
Federal minimum wage amount of $7.25 per hour, also on the effective
date of July 24, 2009.
If you're eligible for the minimum wage, then your employee rights entitle
you to whichever is the most generous amount among the Federal, state and
municipal hourly rates, based on the state or municipality in which you
work. But, typically, municipalities simply adopt the current state minimum
wage, as yours might have.
- To discover the current minimum wage in your work state, contact the
wage and hour (or equivalent) division of the state
labor department or browse its Web site.
- For the current minimum wage in the municipality in which you work,
contact the municipal equivalent of the state labor department (such
as the city council).
- To compare the minimum wage amount in your work state with that in
other states, see Minimum
Wage Laws in the States by the U.S. Department of Labor. It also
indicates the minimum wage increases planned by each state, if any, including
future effective dates.
The new minimum wage law of 2007 did not change worker eligibility requirements
or employer compliance requirements. It was designed solely to implement
a Federal minimum wage increase.
- For more information about worker eligibility and related matters,
read Minimum Wage.
- For employer compliance requirements and related matters, browse the
site of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage
and Hour Division.
- For legal advice, consult a lawyer.
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