The federal
minimum wage
for covered/non-exempt employees is $5.15 an hour. The
federal minimum wage provisions are contained in the
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Many states also have
minimum wage laws. When the federal and the state
minimum wage laws conflict, employers must apply whichever
standard is most beneficial to an employee. (If you
are being paid less than the FSLA or your state law
requires, protest with the help of the Letter available
on this site.)
The law applies
to:
 |
Employees of those
enterprises that do at least $500,000 a year of
business. |
|
Employees of smaller firms,
if the employee is engaged in interstate commerce. |
|
Employees of hospitals, local
government agencies, and schools, and also domestic
workers. |
|
Employees engaged in the production
of goods for commerce, and those working in transportation. |
|
Employees regularly using phone
calls or mails for interstate communication. |
The federal minimum wage law applies
to enterprises covered by the FLSA and employees engaged
in interstate commerce. The FLSA assesses the nature
of the work performed by the employee and the enterprise,
to determine whether the law is applicable or not.
Who enforces
the minimum wage?
The wage and hour division of the U.S Department of
Labor has the responsibility of enforcing the minimum
wage.
Does the
law apply to employees who are paid a salary?
Yes, it applies to salaried employees. It implies
that the average hourly earning for a week must be
equal to $5.15, or higher. The employer has to pay
a salary at least equal to the minimum wage stated
in the federal or state law (whichever is higher)
to the employee.
For example: The employer cannot pay an employee a
salary of $180/week for 40 hours of work; as per the
minimum wage law, it must be at least $206 (40 x $5.15),
or perhaps more, depending upon the state law.
It applies to all those employees who otherwise might
have been covered by the FLSA or state laws.
Minimum wage
for workers who receive tips
The employer of a waiter, waitress, etc.,
is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages,
and it is assumed that the employee will receive at
least $3.02 an hour, on average, in tips.
Conditions for the above
|
If the tipped amount
+ $2.13 equals (or exceeds) the federal minimum
wage of $5.15 per hour. |
|
If the employee retains all
tips. |
|
If the employee regularly receives
and retains more than $30 per month in tips. |
|
If the employee's tip + $2.13
do not equal the mandatory $5.15 per hour, the
employer needs to make up the difference. |
Minimum wage for young workers
below the age of 20
A minimum wage of $4.25 per hour
applies to workers under the age of 20 during their
first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with
an employer, as long as their work does not displace
other workers. After 90 consecutive days of employment
or when the employee reaches 20 years of age, whichever
comes first, the employee must receive a minimum wage
of $5.15 per hour.
There is a special program for vocational
education students (16 years of age or older). It
allows their employer to obtain a certificate from
the Department of Labor, so that these students are
paid not less than 75% of the minimum wage: $3.86
an hour.
Full-time students
The Full-time Student Program is for full-time
students employed in retail or service stores, agriculture,
or colleges and universities. The employer that hires
students can obtain a certificate from the Department
of Labor which allows the student to be paid not less
than 85% of the minimum wage. The certificate also
limits the hours that the student may work to 8 hours
in a day and no more than 20 hours a week when school
is in session and 40 hours when school is out, and
requires the employer to follow all child labor laws.
Once students graduate or leave school for good, they
must be paid $5.15 per hour.
Not all employees, who hire students, participate
in this program or have the necessary certificate.
Commission- paid worker
Minimum laws also apply to employees who are paid
commissions —all those employees who otherwise
might have been covered by the FLSA or state laws.
The average hourly earning for a week must be equal
to $5.15 or higher. If the commission plus any hourly
pay total less than minimum pay, then the employer
is required to pay the difference.
Employers cannot make a low commission the norm.
They have to pay at least the minimum wage when the
employee's weekly pay is averaged by the number of
hours worked.
Worker with disability
The FLSA authorizes employers, after receiving a certificate
from the Wage and Hour Division, to pay special minimum
wages - wages less than the federal minimum wage -
to workers who have disabilities for the work being
performed. The certificate also allows the payment
of wages that are less than the prevailing wage to
workers who have disabilities for the work being performed
on contracts subject to the McNamara-O'Hara Service
Contract Act (SCA) and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts
Act (PCA).
A worker who has disabilities for the job
being performed is one whose earning or productive
capacity is impaired by a physical or mental disability,
including those relating to age or injury.
Disabilities which may affect productive capacity
include blindness, mental illness, mental retardation,
cerebral palsy, and alcoholism or drug addiction.
The following, taken by themselves, are not considered
to be disabilities for purposes of paying special
minimum wages: education disabilities, chronic unemployment,
receipt of welfare benefits, nonattendance at school,
juvenile delinquency, and correctional parole or probation.
