In a recent article by United States Department of Labor, wage and hour division is discussed. In this article, many questions about minimum wage law are answered. A common question that many US citizens ask is, “how much is federal minimum wage?” The Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) says that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This has been in effect since July 24, 2009. In many states, citizens are entitled to both the state and federal minimum wage laws- meaning the employee is entitled to the higher minimum wage. That being said, there are also numerous exceptions apply under certain circumstances such as to workers with disabilities, full-time students, youth under the age of 20 and tipped employees.
Employees that fall under the “tipped employees” category often wonder how their minimum wage differs from other employees who are not tipped. An employer can not pay an employee less than $2.13 an hour in direct wages if that amount plus the tips received equals at the least the federal minimum wage amount. On the other hand, if an employee’s tips combined with the direct wages received do not equal the federal minimum wage by the hour, then the employer has to make up the difference.
For people under the age of 20, there is also a different minimum wage for them. In the first consecutive 90 days working for the employer- the minimum wage is $4.25. After those 90 days are over, the employee is allowed to receive $7.25 per hours for minimum wage. In addition, there are also exceptions for full-time students. This applies to students who work in retail or service stores, agriculture, or college and universities. The employer that highers the full-time students can receive a certificate from the Department of Labor that allows the student to be paid not less than 85% of the minimum wage. In addition, the certificate also limits the number of hours the student works during the school year to no more than 8 hours a day and 20 hours a week. The certificate also requires the employee to follow all child labor laws and once the student graduates, they are allowed to receive $7.25 per hour.
To make sure everyone receives the correct amount of minimum wage they are allotted, the FLSA states that minimum wage applies to employees of enterprises that have an annual gross of at least $500,000. For additional information about minimum wage laws- people can visit the Wage-Hour website here.
