HR and Employment Law News, Jan 17, 2013
Pennsylvania Senator Christine Tartaglione recently announced plans to reintroduce legislation, formerly S.B. 235 of 2011–2012, which would provide for a cost-of-living adjustment to Pennsylvania’s minimum wage law.
“For several decades, wages of low and middle income workers have remained fairly stagnant, while wages of the highest paid workers have increased steadily,” Senator Tartaglione said in a written statement. …
Ten states have set their minimum wages to increase automatically based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index or other cost-of-living factor. Those states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Washington, which began indexing its minimum wage in 2001, has the highest minimum wage, at $9.19 per hour. …
While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many other business groups oppose minimum wage increases, others, such as Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce (USWCC), have recently made headlines by throwing their support behind proposals for higher minimum wages.