labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The minimum wage in the District of Columbia will climb 55 cents, from $7.00 to $7.55 per hour on July 24, 2008.

That’s because D.C. law requires that the minimum wage be $1 per hour more than the federal minimum wage. When the federal minimum wage increases from $5.85 to $6.55 in July, it will spark an increase in the D.C. minimum wage.

Up to a dozen states will increase the minimum wage to the same level as the federal minimum wage, including Virginia, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and North Dakota. The increase in the District of Columbia is the highest, however.

This increase is somewhat controversial (more…)

The Texas minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008. This 70-cent increase mirrors the increase in the federal minimum wage under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 1007 on the same day. Under that bill, the federal minimum wage is scheduled to increase a total of 3 times between 2007 and 2009. Each increase is 70 cents. This brings the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour.

According to the US Department of Labor, the Texas minimum wage (more…)

On July 24, 2008 the North Carolina minimum wage will increase 40 cents from $6.15 per hour to $6.55 per hour when the federal minimum wage increases. On that date, the federal minimum wage will increase 70 cents,  from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour.

That’s because North Carolina is one of a host of states that ties the state minimum wage to the federal rate. In 2007, the North Carolina minimum wage was $6.15 per hour. However, under state law, if the federal minimum wage is higher, the North Carolina minimum wage automatically increases, as well.

On the same day, (more…)

On July 24, 2008 when the federal minimum wage increase to $6.55 per hour, the Oklahoma state minimum wage will, as well. This is the second in a series of 3 70-cent increases in the federal minimum wage introduced by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. The federal minimum wage will increase from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

By state statute, the Oklahoma minimum wage increases when the federal minimum wage does. In fact, according to the US Department of Labor, the Oklahoma state minimum wage statute doesn’t even contain a dollar amount. It simply adopts the federal minimum wage rate by reference.

The state minimum wage excludes (more…)

One of the unexpected long-term consequences of Hurricane Katrina has been repeated violations of wage and hour laws in the Gulf Coast region. Faced with seemingly insurmountable clean up and rebuilding jobs, a boom-town economy and a huge labor shortage, many employers seem to have forgotten the most basic federal labor laws.

A number of companies from New Orleans to Houston have been fined – sometimes millions of dollars — for minimum wage violations since 2005. Abuses were so widespread that the DOL formed a special task force dedicated to wage and hour compliance in the Gulf Coast.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, the seminar is scheduled the day before the federal minimum wage will increase by 70 cents.

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