Triad Business Daily

What is minimum wage now and do all companies have to comply with the increase?

I work at BurgerKing and get paid 6.50 and hour. With the new minimum wage law, can i expect my hourly pay rate to go up?

Public Comments

1. On May 25, 2007, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was amended to increase the federal minimum wage in three steps: to $5.85 per hour effective July 24, 2007; to $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. The Act applies to enterprises with employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. For most firms, a test of not less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business applies (i.e., the Act does not cover enterprises with less than this amount of business). However, the Act does cover the following regardless of their dollar volume of business: hospitals; institutions primarily engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill, or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally, or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary, and secondary schools and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies. Employees of firms that do not meet the $500,000 annual dollar volume test may be covered in any workweek when they are individually engaged in interstate commerce, the production of goods for interstate commerce, or an activity that is closely related and directly essential to the production of such goods. The Act covers domestic service workers, such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full‑time babysitters, if they receive at least $1,300 (2001) in cash wages from one employer in a calendar year, or if they work a total of more than eight hours a week for one or more employers.
2. Minimum wage varies from state to state. If minimum wage in your state increases your employer MUST Match it, unless in your work you are expected to receive gratuities(tips) then they can pay you less- [but the amount you earn total must still be atl least equal o min. wage]. Or if you are under age (16 I think?) you can be paid 80% of minimum wage if your employer choses. In michigan its 7.15 and by this time next year min. wage will be 7.80