Thursday, May 29, 2008

$6.55 Per Hour: The Second Step of the Federal Minimum Wage Increase

The federal minimum wage will take the first of its two additional scheduled increases effective July 24, 2008, when the federal minimum wage moves from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour.

On May 25, 2007, President Bush signed a bill that amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to provide for a three-step increase in the federal minimum wage: to $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; to $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.

If an employee is covered by both a state minimum and the federal minimum, the worker is entitled to the higher of the two.

As of February 2008, Washington has the highest minimum wage of all 50 states, and California, Massachusetts and Oregon follow. Kansas has the lowest minimum wage. Texas is one of a number of states that pegs its state minimum wage to the federal minimum wage; the current federal minimum wage applies for most jobs in these states.

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