labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Most of the states in the country have established minimum wage laws at the state level, including Georgia.

The Georgia minimum wage is currently $5.15 per hour, although almost all employees in the state are entitled to $7.25 per hour under the federal minimum wage. 

However, not every state has a minimum wage. In fact, in Alabama and four other states (Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee), if an employee isn’t covered under the federal minimum wage, employers can legally pay that worker as little as $1.00 per hour. That’s assuming, of course, that a company could find an employer willing to work for so little. This is because those states have no minimum wage law.

With the recent increase, every Georgia employers should update his or her federal and Georgia minimum wage posters.

Because of this recent increase, Georgia employers and employers across the country must update their labor law posters. The law requires that whenever a change is made in any labor law, state of federal, companies must display the updates posters in a place where all employees have easy access. Failure to display these posters can result in fines and penalties.

However, even in those states, employees who are eligible for the federal minimum wage must be paid $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum recently increased by 70 cents from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour as part of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. That Act provided 3 increases in the federal minimum wage over three years. These 70 cent increases took place on July 24 in 2007, in 2008 and in 2009. 

Federal minimum wages are set by the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938). The FLSA applies to all businesses with at least $500,000 in annual revenue and to employers engaged in interstate commerce. FLSA can also apply to individual (more…)

Although the federal minimum wage is now $7.25, the Minnesota minimum wage remains at $6.15 per hour.

On July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage increased by 70 cents from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour. This increase was the third and final increase in the federal minimum wage as set forth by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

Employers in Minnesota and throughout the U.S. must take this opportunity to update their labor law posters, both state and federal. They are legally required to display the most recent labor law posters, and in a spot easily accessible to all employees.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is the law which governs the federal minimum wage. FLSA applies to all businesses that earn $500,000 or more per years. Companies who conduct business out of state are also covered by FLSA.

FLSA law applies to individuals engaged in interstate commerce, too, even if the business does not. For example a receptionist who answers out-of-state calls or mails packages outside of the state, qualifies under FLSA and would be paid the federal minimum.

In Minnesota, if an employee is not covered under the federal minimum wage law, companies are legally allowed to pay that employee $6.15 per hour. This is legal, because (more…)

With the most recent hike in the federal minimum wage from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour, there are now 28 states with the same minimum wage. All of these states share the $7.25 minimum wage rate:  Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Some of these states, like Hawaii and Kentucky, had already implemented a minimum wage of $7.25. Others, such as Texas, Utah, Maryland and Indiana, adopt the federal minimum wage automatically. In some of those states, the July 2009 increase was relatively minor. The Florida minimum wage, for example, increased from $7.21 to $7.25 per hour while New York and New Jersey increased from $7.15 to $7.25 per hour.

Even such insignificant increases require employers to update their federal and state minimum wage posters, of course.

Four states have minimum wages lower than the federal rate. Kansas has the dubious honor of being the state with the lowest minimum wage at $2.65 per hour – although that rate will change later this year. The others are:

Arkansas                   $6.25

Minnesota                 $6.15

Wyoming                   $5.15

However, those states do not offer the lowest wages. Five states have never passed a minimum wage law: South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee. In those states, wages are a private matter between the employer and the employee. Unless the employee is covered by the federal minimum wage law (and most are), the employer can pay any hourly wage he or she likes.

Thirteen states plus the District of Columbia have minimum wages that are higher than the federal rate. The are, in alphabetical order:

California                              $8.00

Colorado                               $7.28

Connecticut                          $8.00

District of Columbia             $8.25

Illinois                                    $8.00

Massachusetts                     $8.00

Michigan                               $7.40

Nevada                                  $7.55

New Mexico                          $7.50 

Ohio                                       $7.30

Oregon                                  $8.40

Rhode Island                        $7.40

Vermont                                $8.06

Washington                          $8.55 

The highest state minimum wage is in Washington, at $8.55 per hour. Oregon is second at $8.40 per hour while Vermont is third with a minimum wage of $8.06 per hour. Those states are likely to remain in the top 3, since each of them implements an annual cost-of-living increase

Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and California are tied in fourth place (more…)

Wyoming employers need to be aware of recent changes in the federal minimum wage. 

Although the Wyoming minimum wage is currently $5.15 per hour, most employees are entitled to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Wyoming is one of four states with a minimum wage lower than the federal minimum wage. Those states include Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota and Wyoming.

There are also five states without a state minimum wage – Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee. If an employee in any of these states is not covered by the federal minimum wage, that employee can legally be paid a mere $1.00 per hour.

Most Wyoming employees, however, are covered by the federal minimum wage, which increased on July 24, 2009 from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour.

For that reason, Wyoming employers should be careful to diaply an updated federal and Wyoming minimum wage poster.

The relevant law for the federal minimum wage is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. This law made major changes in the workplace. It established child labors laws to prohibit children under the age of 14 from working in almost every occupation. Today’s teenagers sometime balk at this fact, but prior to FLSA, children of all ages often worked 60 hours per week in factories, mills and farms, sometimes operating dangerous machinery.

FLSA covers all businesses with annual earnings of at least $500,000 and those companies engaged in interstate commerce. Individual employees who engage in interstate commerce are covered, too. For example a secretary who answers out-of-state phone calls is engaged in interstate commerce, as is a shipping clerk that mails packages out-of-state.

With the widespread use of credit cards and the Internet, there are few businesses and employees who aren’t engaged in interstate commerce.

Wyoming employers should take this opportunity to update their labor law posters, both state and federal. The posters must be displayed in a prominent spot, easily accessed by all employees.

The increase in the federal minimum on July 24, 2009, was the third and last of three 70 cent increases set forth by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. These increases each occurred on July 24 in the years of 2007, 2008, 2009.

Several states tie their minimum wage rate to the federal rate. For example, Arizona, Maryland, Iowa, Utah, Texas and Indiana enacted laws so that when the federal minimum increased, the minimum in their state matched it. Therefore, on July 24, 2009, the minimum wage in these eight states increased to match the federal rate of $7.25 per hour.

Every Kansas employer needs to update his or her federal minimum wage poster. On July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour, an increase of 70 cents.

The Kansas minimum wage is $2.65 per hour. Kansas currently has the lowest minimum wage of any state, although there are 5 states that do not have a minimum wage at all. They are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and South Carolina.

This change affects most employers in Kansas.

The federal minimum wage is governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. FLSA covers employers with annual earnings of at least $500,000, and companies who engage in interstate commerce.

With advanced technology of the Internet, communicating via emails, and accepting credit cards for payment, the majority of Kansas businesses are engaged in interstate commerce. Even if the company doesn’t engage in interstate commerce, an individual employee within the company may, and would be covered by FLSA.

For example, a buyer for a retail store (more…)