Wage regulation is the responsibility of the federal government as well as individual state governments to ensure that workers are fairly compensated.
According to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, there has been a federal minimum wage since 1938, when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The first federal minimum wage, according to the United States Department of Labor, was 25 cents per hour.
According to the US Department of Labor, the minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, but according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, the average living wage in 2019 is $16.54.
What is the state with the lowest minimum wage?
According to the Department of Labor, two states, Georgia and Wyoming, have a minimum wage of $5.15 for employers exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is used by the majority of businesses.
Many other states follow the federal minimum wage set by the United States government.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies to any state that does not have its own established minimum wage.
Which of the following states has the highest minimum wage?
Washington currently has the highest consolidated state minimum wage, paying all employees $14.49 per hour. The minimum wage in California is $15 per hour for some workers, but businesses with 25 or fewer employees are exempt and can pay $14 per hour, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations.
Washington’s minimum wage will be $15.74 per hour beginning in January 2023. The minimum wage in California will also rise, to $15.50 per hour for all employees.
On or about January 1, twenty-one states and 41 cities and counties will raise their minimum wages, with Massachusetts joining Washington and California in offering a $15 hourly pay floor.
Washington, D.C. has the highest minimum wage of any state in the United States. According to the Mayor’s Executive Office, the minimum wage for non-tipped employees will be $16.10 per hour in July 2022.
What is the tipped employee’s minimum wage?
According to the Department of Labor, the federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour in direct wages, as long as an employee earns enough tips to meet the minimum hourly wage of $7.25.
