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HR Support on Federal and State Minimum Wage Laws
Editor's Note: What's the least an employee may be paid?
Overview: Federal minimum wage law requires that all nonexempt employees be paid at least $7.25 for every hour they work; this is the federal minimum wage. Nineteen states have even higher minimum wages.
Since about 97 percent of the American workforce earns more than the minimum wage, very few employers need to concern themselves with this baseline requirement. Nevertheless, an employer that makes agreed-upon deductions from an employee's pay – for example, deductions for cleaning uniforms – must be careful that the deductions do not bring the employee's wage below the applicable minimum rate.
To comply with minimum wage laws, an employer can apply certain payments – most notably, tips that wait staff, bartenders and other tipped employees receive for service, and the cost of board and lodging – toward its minimum wage obligations.
Also, minimum wage laws allow certain employees – including students, workers with disabilities, messengers, apprentices and student-learners – to be paid at "subminimum wages" below the normal rate.
Trends: To help employees keep pace with the rising cost of living, ten states have indexed their minimum wage rates to the rate of inflation. Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would do the same in other states, and at the federal level. No bills have passed yet, but if the economy improves, it's a fair bet that some will start to be enacted.
Author: Michael Cardman, Legal Editor
Latest items in Minimum Wage
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New Pay Deductions Added to Kansas Content
The Payment of Wages: Kansas section of the Employment Law Manual has been updated to include additional types of payroll deductions that employers are permitted to make starting July 1, 2013.
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New Pay Deductions Soon to Be Available in Kansas
Under a new Kansas law effective July 1, 2013, employers will be permitted to make new types of pay deductions in addition to the few that are currently allowed.
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Content Added, Updated to Reflect Connecticut Minimum Wage Increase
Two new entries to the Legal Timetable have been added, while an existing Quick Reference chart and a section of the Employment Law Manual have been updated.
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Retail Resource Center for HR
XpertHR's Retail Resource Center for HR helps retail employers handle their most vexing employment issues by bringing relevant resources together in one place for easy access.
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Connecticut's Minimum Wage to Increase to $9.00 by 2015
Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy plans to sign into law a bill that would increase the state's minimum wage from its current $8.25 to $8.70 in 2014 and then again to $9.00 in 2015.
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California Vice: Targeted Inspections Yield Record-High Minimum Wage and Overtime Assessments
California's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) assessed $13 million in unpaid overtime and $3 million in unpaid minimum wages last year, a huge increase over previous years that the agency credits to its new approach to enforcement.
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Minimum Wage Increase Looms in Minnesota
The Minnesota Senate has passed legislation that would raise the state's minimum wage to $7.75 per hour by 2015, and the Minnesota House has passed legislation that would raise the state's minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2015 and then increase the minimum wage by the rate of inflation every year thereafter. Gov. Mark Dayton has said he prefers the House version but would sign either bill into law.
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California Content Updated to Reflect Minimum Wage Ruling
The Minimum Wage: California section of XpertHR's Employment Law Manual now references the ruling Gonzalez v. Downtown L.A. Motors.
About this topic
HR guidance on complying with federal and state minimum wage laws.