Arizona Minimum Wage Now $6.90

January 17th, 2008 Posted by Amelia

Arizona employers need to be aware of important changes in the state minimum wage law.

The federal minimum wage is $5.85 per hour, and many states simply adopt the federal minimum wage. Other states establish their own minimum wage laws.

Arizona is one of those states, and as of January 1, 2008, Arizona instituted an annual cost-of-living raise. Minimum wage in Arizona is now $6.90, a 15 cent bump from $6.75.

The Industrial Commission of Arizona, as mandated by Arizona’s new Minimum Wage Initiative, is charged with annually adjusting the state’s minimum wage. The Initiative states “The minimum wage shall be increased on January 1, 2008 and on January 1 of successive years by the increase in the cost of living.”

The CPI (Consumer Price Index of All Urban Consumers) for the previous 12 months ending in August provides the basis for the increase. The CPI was 2% for on August 2007, which calculates as a 13.5 cent increase for Arizona’s minimum wage. State law, however, requires any increase to be adjusted to the nearest 5 cents, so instead of a minimum wage of $6.885, the new rate adjusted up to $6.90.

In addition to the Minimum Wage Initiative, Arizona also issued a recent Policy Statement about “hours worked”. According to the Arizona Minimum Wage Act, an employee who works fewer than 24 hours, even if allowed to sleep or do other activities when not busy, is “working” the whole time.

For example, an employer allows a switchboard operator to sleep when not answering calls, and provides facilities for that purpose. The operator is considered to be “working” for state minimum wages while asleep, and the employer is obligated to pay that operator at least that rate.

For firefighters and other employees who work more than 24 hours per shift, the employee and employer collaborate on specific meal and sleep periods. These periods can not add up to over 8 hours per 24 hour period, and the sleep period for the employee must be undisturbed.

Arizona is one of several states that increased the minimum wage in 2008.

The year 2008 has already experienced several changes in state minimum wage laws, and is slated to see several more.

On New Years Day, 2008, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, fourteen states in all, enacted raises in their state minimum wage rate.

On July 1, 2008, five more states will follow suit. Michigan and Illinois will each raise its state minimum wage by twenty-five cents. Michigan’s will go from $7.15 to $7.40 per hour. Illinois’s will rise from $7.50to $7.75.

Kentucky and West Virginia, will add seventy cents to their minimum wage rates, resulting in new rates of $6.55 per hour and $7.25 per hour, respectively. Pennsylvania workers will enjoy a 90 cent per hour raise to their minimum wage rate, giving them a new minimum of $7.15 per hour.

Later in July, Utah, Oklahoma and a number of other states will establish higher minimum wage rates, too. These states have enacted laws which tie their minimum wage raises to the federal minimum wage. In addition to a number of states that increase the minimum wage, the District of Columbia will, as well. By local law, the D.C. minimum wage must be at least $1.00 more than the federal rate, so it will go to $7.55 on July 24.

Whenever a change occurs in any labor law, employers must update their labor law posters or face the possibility of a fine. Companies are required to display these posters in prominent spots in the employee work area, and to update for both state and federal law changes. Businesses seeking up to date information can visit www.laborlawcenter.com.

Last 10 posts by Amelia

« Fourteen States Increase Minimum Wage
Iowa Minimum Wage Now $7.25 »
Posted in Arizona, Employment Laws, Minimum Wage, Wage and Hour

  1. Posted by: luis E.T

    I don’t even know if you’re a real person or an organization named Amelia, but I seriously need help finding out the new mexico minimum wage history, and I need like a website with an exact time line. I SERIOUSLY WILL APRECIATE ANY KIND OF HELP

  2. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi luis! I’m a real person, with extensive experience in Human Resources and good research skills. :-). You may find the links below helpful. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

    Read more about this at: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/dws-Article1.html
    and http://www.google.com/search?q=new+mexico+minimum+wage+history&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GGLJ_en&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=Vum7SsTyDoGrlAfBz5GXDQ&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11

  3. Posted by: Luis E.T.

    the google ones; I’ve looked in like a hundred of those
    If you don’t have the time to help me, becuase of your work or something, I understand. But if you happen to be surfing the internet, please remember that there’s someone out there who realy needs your good research skills.
    ps.
    if you do dicide to help me, what i’m looking for is what exactly was the minimum wage according to the state of new mexico from 1938, when the act begun, to recent time. and if you’re wondering I need these data for a high school poster/project.

  4. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Luis! To the best of our knowledge, New Mexico did not have a state minimum wage until the first part of the 21st century. Until the Clinton administration, state minimum wages were illegal. So you are really interested in the history of the federal minimum wage from 1938 to about 2003 or so. (After that, the New Mexico minimum wage kicks in, but it might not be until 2006. Phone the New Mexico Department of Labor to find out for sure.)
    There are a number of sites that will show you the history of the federal minimum wage. The law was actually called the Fair Labor Standards Act, and you are correct that it was passed in 1938.
    But if we did your homework for you, it wouldn’t be your work, would it??~ Amelia

  5. Posted by: Luis E.T

    I owe you my grade,
    I had already gathered the data for the federal, but no wonder I couldn’t find anything on the state. THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH, I had all week working on this project, and many others, among the college paper. can I ask, where you guys get this information from?

  6. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Luis! Well, actually, we remember it because some of our HR advisors were managing businesses before state minimum wages could lawfully be higher than the federal rate. However, you can probably verify it on wikipedia (state minimum wage) or info about Bill Clinton’s administration. The 2007 federal minimum wage increase was the first in more than a decade. Many states got tired of waiting and passed their own (higher) minimum wages between 2003 and 2006. We bet if you check New Mexico newspapers for 2004 or 2005, you’ll find articles on politicians passing the state minimum wage. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

  7. Posted by: Luis E.T.

    actually, I had already found the numbers for those years, but I made the mistake of thinking that it was implied that all states had thier minimum wages since the federal started. So I was trying to find something that deosn’t exist. So thank you very much for clarifying that for me, all the library staff in my school wasn’t able to figure it out either, so I think it’s not that bad that I had that mistake.

  8. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Luis! Yes, it’s an easy mistake to make unless you happen to know the minimum wage history.

    The second link below is to an article about the increase from $5.15 per hour passed in early 2007. Prior to that, the New Mexico minimum wage was the same as the federal rate. Glad we could help! ~ Amelia

    http://www.dws.state.nm.us/pdf/minimumwageactposter.pdf is the actual statute — boring to read.
    http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/03/20/new-mexico-minimum-wage-workers-get-a-raise/
    http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-140894000/2006-legislature-dems-gop.html about the first attempt to pass a NM minimum wage higher than the federal rate, in 2006

  9. Posted by: Luis E.T.

    And to justify my ignorance. I’ve only been living in this country for just 4 years.

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