Federal Minimum Wage Increase to $7.25, July 24

The federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. Employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act are affected.

“This administration is committed to improving the lives of working families across the nation, and the increase in the minimum wage is another important step in the right direction,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “This well-deserved increase will help workers better provide for their families in the face of today’s economic challenges. I am especially pleased that the change will benefit working women, who make up two-thirds of minimum wage earners.”

This increase is the last installment of a three-part series of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. The first part was set at $5.85 per hour in July of 2007; then $6.55 in July of 2008; and now $7.25 effective July 24, 2009.

Thirty states would be affected by the change. Those states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The increase will also affect minimum wage in Washington, D.C., where the minimum wage is required to be one dollar more than the federal minimum.

An average family, with a full-time minimum wage earner, should see a monthly increase of $120.

It is also required that employers post these new regulations on workplace bulletin boards, which can be downloaded for free at: http://www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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