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The Missouri minimum wage increases by 40 cents, from $6.65 to $7.05 per hour on January 1, 2009. The increase is larger than in previous years due to the high rate of inflation for the previous 12 months.

By contrast, last year’s increase was just 15 cents per hour according the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.   Many pundits worry about the impact that such a large increase will have on smaller employers across the state. Especially when coupled with rising prices and declining sales, the 2009 Missouri minimum wage increase is a bitter pill for many employers to swallow.

“In August, the Department released preliminary data projecting (more…)

On April 23, the U.S. Department of Labor announced grants to train workers in Missouri and Connecticut totaling almost $2 million.

A $1.7 million employment grant was awarded to the state of Missouri to provide training assistance for workers who lost their jobs as a result of several recent mass layoffs. The mass layoffs included:

• Chrysler LLC in Fenton, Missouri
• Integram St. Louis Seating in Pacific, Missouri
• Yushin USA Ltd. in Kirksville, Missouri

“This $1.7 million grant will provide these Missourians with employment services to help in starting a new career in a growing industry,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao.

All workers impacted by these layoffs have been certified for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). TAA is a federal program that can provide additional benefits, beyond the normal unemployment insurance payments, to workers affected by mass layoffs or plant closures. Under TAA, workers can receive unemployment benefits for a year or more. In addition, TAA offers workers training in new skills to help them secure jobs in a different market sector, including tuition and benefits. In some cases, laid-off workers who earn less at their new job qualify for partial payments through TAA for up to 18 additional months, even while they are working.

The Missouri training grant is awarded to the Missouri Division of Workforce Development and will provide workers with services not covered under the TAA program. The grant will be used to provide a menu of services to workers, including assessment, career counseling and case management. Services and benefits already available to these workers under TAA may include training, job search allowances, relocation allowances and a health coverage tax credit, among others.

This grant benefits an area that has been hard-hit in recent months by various layoffs and plant closures. On Nov. 2, 2007, Chrysler LLC announced that it would be eliminating the second shift at its Fenton, Mo., plant, affecting approximately 1,078 workers.

This change triggered a domino-effect as Chrysler’s suppliers responded to changing market conditions.

On the heels of that announcement, Chrysler suppliers Integram St. Louis Seating announced that they would lay off 326 workers. Then Yushin USA Ltd. announced that they would be laying off about 100 workers.

Of the total announced, $958,608 will be released initially. Additional funding up to $1.7 million will be made available as the state demonstrates a continued need to serve workers affected by these layoffs.

On the same day, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a $250,000 Regional Innovation Grant to assist the state of Connecticut in developing regional talent development strategies. These plans will specifically focus on increasing the technical and engineering skills of Connecticut workers. The project covers the eastern Connecticut region, as well as Worcester County in Massachusetts and Washington County in Rhode Island.

“Eastern Connecticut is working across state boundaries to ensure area workers have opportunities to build the kinds of technical skills that are in demand,” said acting Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Brent R. Orrell. “The $250,000 this grant provides will help bring together business and education leaders to address skills shortages and establish plans for long-term talent development.”

The grant goes to the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board. It will be implemented by the newly formed Engineering and Technical Skills Task Force.

Members of the Skills Task Force will collaborate with area educational partners to analyze the region’s capacity to offer engineering and technical skills training programs and issue recommendations to address existing and emerging skills gaps.

Normally, when a grant such as this identifies employer needs and a plan to train workers, it is followed by a larger training grant, such as the one in Missouri.

The project also will support plans to increase the number of engineering degree programs, and strengthen connections between employers and potential workers through internship and apprenticeship programs.

A $250,000 Regional Innovation Grant to Missouri will aid displaced workers in Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, as well.

The title="Posts tagged with Missouri">Missouri grant from the U.S. Department of Labor will help establish talent development strategies in the Quad states region, including southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma.

“The project this $250,000 grant supports will help the Quad States region create talent development strategies that incorporate the assets of these states and address the needs of emerging industries,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Douglas F. Small.

The area has been lagging in jobs and economic development for some time.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the grant, awarded to the Workforce Investment Board of the Southwest Region Inc., will enable the region to map its assets and conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. Using the SWOT analysis and other studies, the region will link local governments, educators, business associations and economic development agencies to develop synchronized talent development strategies.

The project will begin with the establishment of the Quad States Regional Transformation leadership group, which will jointly develop strategies that position the area as a regional transportation and logistics hub. The project will encompass approximately 40 counties in the four-state region.

Other grants recently announced by the U.S. Department of Labor include a $5.5 million grant to aid laid-off workers in the mortgage industry in California, and a grant for economic development in the Cedar Valley region of Iowa.

Regional Innovation Grants are drawn from National Emergency Grant funds to assist state workforce agencies and local workforce investment boards, as well as their key partners, in the design and development of comprehensive and strategic regional plans focused on talent development that is aligned with the demands of the 21st century economy.

Missouri Emergency Grants

National Emergency Grants (NEG) are awarded when a plant closes or lays off many workers which creates a need that the state can not handle. For example, in 2007, an Emergency Grant of $250,000 was given to SI WORKS, a new program for twenty southern Illinois counties to aid economic development and to improve job opportunities.

These grants are awarded by the U. S. Department of Labor at the discretion of the Labor Secretary. Current Labor Secretary, Elaine L. Chao has awarded several grants in the past couple of years. In addition to the SI WORKS grant, Ms. Chao awarded over one million dollars to Missouri employees who were displaced when the O’Sullivan Industries Plant in Lamar, Missouri closed its doors.

The NEGs are awarded on a time-limited basis, offering financial assistance for “significant dislocation events”. This money serves to temporarily increase state and local service levels to handle the event.

When one of these events occurs, a state should initiate the grant process immediately, to ensure the funds will be available. Any discretionary funds held by the state should be included in its resources. Most state and local employment agencies can provide information on grant application policies.

Several types of NEGs exist, and are each awarded for a specific situation.

When a company lays off 50 or more workers, or when layoffs are industry-wide within a region, or when the layoffs total fewer than 50 but severely affect a rural community or small town, a Regular NEG could be awarded.

Employees eligible for Trade Realignment Assistance (TRA) or for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) who are in danger of losing their healthcare insurance may be awarded a Trade-Health Coverage Infrastructure grant.

Trade-WIA Dual Enrollment grants are awarded when 50 or more workers in areas affected by federal trade policies are laid off.

Regional Innovation grants pertain to partnerships between business and government and non-profit agencies. These grants are often used to train laid-off workers for new jobs and boost the local economy.

Disaster grants are awarded to communities struck by hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, blizzards or other natural disasters.

On January 1, 2008, Missouri, along with over a dozen other states, increased its state minimum wage. Missouri’s minimum wage jumped 15 cents per hour from $6.50 to $6.65.

Missouri state statute, Section 290.502.2, mandates that the Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations adjust the state minimum wage according to the change in the cost of living. Published by the Department of Labor, the CPI (Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers) serves as the basis for calculating the new rate. Note that Missouri is one of the few states that allow the minimum wage to go down. If the cost of living goes down, the state minimum wage goes down, too.

Retail or services businesses with annual earnings of less than $500,000 are exempt from the Missouri state minimum wage law. For companies that deal in interstate commerce, the workers are covered by the federal minimum wage law.

Belo plans, which pay workers a set amount per week no matter the number of hours worked, are not allowed in Missouri. Belo plans, also known as the fluctuating work week, are normally used in businesses where hours vary by the season. Golf courses and ski resorts are examples of industries that use Belo plans. Though Belo plans a legal under federal law and legal in most states, they are not legal in Missouri.

The majority of  states in the country have enacted state minimum wage laws. If an employee qualifies for both the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour, and the state minimum wage, the worker receives whichever provides the greater benefit. In Missouri, these employees would receive the higher Missouri state minimum wage of $6.65 per hour.

In all, fourteen states increased the minimum wage with the new year.

Employees in Missouri are entitled by state law to be paid overtime for any time worked over 40 hours in one week. Though mandated by law, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has no branch to enforce payment of overtime. If the employee isn’t receiving overtime pay, he or she must file suit against the employer.

California, Massachusetts, Vermont, and eleven other states increased their state minimum wage on January 1, 2008, but more wage increases are slated for 2008.

On July 1, 2008, five states will raise their minimum wage rates. Michigan’s minimum will jump 25 cents from $7.15 to $7.40 per hour. Illinois will see a 25 cent rise as well, from $7.50 per hour to $7.75 per hour.

West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania will see substantial increases in their state minimum wages on July 1, 2008, too. Pennsylvania’s minimum will rise 90 cents from $6.25 per hour to $7.15 per hour. Both Kentucky and West Virginia will establish minimum wage raises of 70 cents. West Virginia’s rate will go from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. Kentucky’s minimum will rise from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

Kentucky’s rise mirrors the federal minimum wage rate which will go from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008.

The year 2007 saw the first federal minimum wage increase in more than a decade under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

On July 24, 2008, the second step of the Act’s system will go into effect and the federal minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

A number of states, such as Maryland, Indiana and Virginia, will increase their state minimum wage rates on the same day the federal minimum increase goes into effect. These states either mirror the federal rate, or tie their increases to timing of the raises for the federal minimum.

The District of Columbia ties its minimum wage to the federal wage, too, but with a difference. In D.C., the minimum wage is required to be at least $1.00 per hour greater than the federal minimum. On July 24, 2008, then, D.C.’s minimum will jump to $7.55 per hour.

More than a dozen U.S. states will increase the tagged with Minimum Wage">minimum wage with the new year, including Missouri. The Missouri minimum wage will increase 15 cents from $6.50 to $6.65 per hour on January 1, 2008.

Section 290.502.2 of the state statutes requires the Director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to measure the increase or decrease of the cost of living as of the previous July, and adjust the state minimum wage accordingly. The new rate is based on the CPI, the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers published by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Missouri is one of the very few states that allows for the minimum wage to be decreased, if the cost of living goes down.

The Missouri law does exempt retail or services businesses with gross revenues of less than $500,000 per year. However, if these businesses engage in interstate commerce, many employees will be covered under the federal minimum wage law.

The state law also requires that employers pay overtime after 40 hours per week. However, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations doesn’t have an enforcement branch. Instead, employees who are being paid too little must bring suit against the employer.

Missouri’s minimum wage is higher than the  federal minimum wage, which is currently $5.85. Many states have minimum wage laws, too. When both laws apply, the one which provides the best deal for the worker is the law to use.

The Missouri minimum wage and overtime law does not allow the fluctuating work week, or Belo plan, for employees. Under this plan, employees are paid a set amount for a standard workweek, which may be more or less than 40 hours. Many employees object to Belo plans, because they result in the employee getting a smaller overtime premium when they work more. Belo plans are used in other states in industries like ski resorts and golf courses where the hours vary seasonally. They are legal under federal law and in most states. However, they are not legal in Missouri. 

Montana’s state minimum wage will be $6.25 per hour as of January 1, 2008. Some employers–those with $110,000 or less gross revenue–can legally pay only $4.00 per hour.

Large businesses in Minnesota pay workers the state minimum of $6.15 per hour. Smaller companies, those that bring in less than $625,000 per year in revenue, only pay $5.25 per hour.

Consider Kansas with a minimum wage of $2.65. If an employee is covered by state and federal law, clearly the federal minimum of $5.85 gives the worker more money, thus a bigger benefit. The federal minimum would apply.

In addition to differences from the federal minimum wage law, several states have written some unusual conditions into their state minimum wage statutes.

Agricultural workers in Massachusetts can legally be paid a mere $1.60 per year. Employees who also earn tips have a legal minimum of $2.63. The rest of the industries, however, pay one of the top five highest minimum wages in the country, $8.00 per hour as of the year 2008.

Washington will take the top spot with $8.07 per hour on January 1, 2008.

Maryland has a state minimum wage of $6.15, but it doesn’t apply to part-time employees over 61 and under 16. The exclusion applies to younger workers who work up to 20 hours per week and to the over 61 age group who work up to 25 hours per week. Some companies in Maryland, including amusement parks, hotels and restaurants, don’t have to pay overtime either.

School bus drivers in Alaska benefit from the quirks of their state minimum wage law. The minimum wage is $7.15 per hour, and the law demands that bus drivers receive wages of $14.30 per hour, or twice the minimum.