MINIMUM WAGE RISES July 1
Federal law will have little effect in Pa.

HARRISBURG, JUNE 21, 2007 – State Sen. Mike Stack today reminded workers and employers that the new federal minimum wage law will not affect the vast majority of workers in Pennsylvania.

“The new federal increase is not a fair living wage,” said Stack, who co-sponsored last year’s wage increase legislation. “Thankfully, our workers in Pennsylvania are protected by a more realistic state law that will take effect next month.”

The federal minimum wage increase, the first in 10 years, was achieved by attaching the measure to the recently passed Iraq war- funding bill. The bill boosts the federal minimum wage to $5.85 an hour on July 24. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage will rise to $7.15 per hour on July 1.

Pennsylvania employers must pay the Pennsylvania rate, not the federal rate, unless the federal rate is higher.

“Last year’s passage of a minimum wage increase was a victory for thousands of hard-working Pennsylvanians and their families and, on July 1, it will be a reality,” Stack said

Pennsylvania law allows employers to pay a “training wage” to workers under 20 years of age for up to 60 days. For those workers, the federal minimum wage will be in effect during the training period. In 2009, if Pennsylvania law remains the same, the federal law will add 10 cents an hour to the minimum wage here.

While Pennsylvania’s July 1 increase will bring the minimum wage to $7.15 an hour, certain small businesses are allowed to raise the minimum wage at a slower rate. The minimum wage for businesses with the equivalent of 10 or fewer full-time employees rises to $6.65 on July 1, and to $7.15 on July 1, 2008.

The following is a schedule for federal and state minimum wage levels:
July 1 - $7.15 – Pa. businesses with more than 10 full-time employees
July 1 - $6.65 – Pa. businesses with 10 or fewer full-time employees
July 24 - $5.85 – federal minimum wage and PA “training wage”
July 1, 2008 - $7.15 – All Pennsylvania employees
July 24, 2008 - $6.55 – federal minimum wage and PA “training wage”
July 24, 2009 - $7.25 – federal minimum wage and all PA wages

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