Weekly Updates and News

Weekly Updates and News Weekly

This week’s contents:

Topic of the Week: Minimum Wage

Thought of the Week

Weekly Comic by Jerry King

Blog of the Week: Unemployment Benefits Protect Seasonal Workers

Top Five News Headlines

List of the Week: from Investopedia

Topic of the Week Minimum Wage

Minimum wage means the lowest hourly pay that workers can receive. The federal minimum wage for covered, nonexempt employees is $7.25 an hour, effective July 24, 2009. In 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 1.6 million workers (1.9 percent of all hourly paid workers in the U.S.) earned wages equal to or less than the federal minimum wage. Of these 1.6 million workers, 392,000 workers earned exactly the federal minimum wage and 1.2 million workers earned less than the federal minimum wage.

1. If my state or city’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, what is my employer required to pay me?

Where an employee is subject to both the state and federal minimum wage laws, or federal, state, and city minimum wage laws, the employee is entitled to higher of the minimum wages. If you are not covered by the federal minimum wage laws, that does not mean that you are also exempt from your state minimum wage requirements.

2. Can my employer pay me less for certain hours or average my pay?

While your employer may pay you different rates for different kinds of work, the pay rates cannot be averaged to meet your employer’s minimum wage obligations. Hourly employees must be paid minimum wage for all hours worked. For example, your employer could not pay you $6.50 for certain hours worked, even if for the rest of the hours worked, you were paid $8.00 per hour, making your average rate of pay higher than $7.25 per hour.

Thought of the Week

“Families are not one size fits all and our laws shouldn’t be either. Many families include unmarried partners, extended relatives, and close loved ones who may not share a biological or legal relationship. Unfortunately, our laws have allowed too many families to fall through the cracks. We need to ensure that everyone–no matter what their family looks like–can care for the ones they love without paying an impossible price at work. “

–A Better Balance

Weekly Comic by Jerry King

Blog of the Week

Unemployment Benefits Protect Seasonal Workers

The Wisconsin state legislature wants to slash unemployment benefits. Seasonal workers rely on that money as job opportunities fluctuate throughout the year.

Top Five News Headlines

List of the Week

from Investopedia

LGBTQ+ Pay Gap and Unemployment

The LGBTQ+ pay gap refers to the disparity in earned income of typical households across sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBTQ+ communities continue to face discrimination and disparities in income and unemployment.
Job protections for LGBTQ+ are new.
Laws and court decisions such as the 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court decision affect progress by guaranteeing job protections, but activists say there’s still work to do.