Fresh off President Barack Obama's appeal during his State of the Union address to push for increases to the federal minimum wage, New York legislators introduced a series of measures to speed up and extend increases to the State's minimum wage.
Last year, the legislature passed a measure calling for the
State's minimum wage to increase to $8.75 on December 31, 2014,
and to $9.00 on December 31, 2015. One of the new proposed
bills would implement the increase to $9.00 per hour this year on
December 31. It would also call for future annual increases
tied to the inflation rate. The proposed bill also would
increase the minimum cash wage rate for food service workers
immediately to $5.50 and to $6.20 on December 31, also with annual
increases tied to inflation.
Another proposed bill would allow counties and municipalities to
set their own minimum wage rates above the prevailing State wage
rate.
The third bill would repeal a law that provides a corporate tax
credit to businesses that hire young workers (ages 16 to 19) at the
minimum wage rate. The stated purpose of this bill is to
"remove a credit that would, in effect, incentivize businesses
to substitute adequately paid older individuals and non-students
with students earning the legal minimum wage."
The bills have been referred to the relevant Senate committees for
consideration. Check back here for updates on the
legislature's activities on these bills.
Originally published on the Employer's Law Blog
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