PRINTER'S NO. 2793
No. 2140 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY J. TAYLOR, BROWNE, FICHTER, WOGAN, HENNESSEY,
HABAY, RAYMOND, GANNON, BARRAR, CIVERA AND KENNEY,
DECEMBER 8, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR RELATIONS, DECEMBER 8, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), entitled
2 "An act establishing a fixed minimum wage and overtime rates
3 for employes, with certain exceptions; providing for minimum
4 rates for learners and apprentices; creating a Minimum Wage
5 Advisory Board and defining its powers and duties; conferring
6 powers and imposing duties upon the Department of Labor and
7 Industry; imposing duties on employers; and providing
8 penalties," further providing for minimum wage rates.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Section 4 of the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11,
12 No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, amended December
13 10, 1974 (P.L.916, No.303), July 1, 1978 (P.L.735, No.135),
14 December 15, 1988 (P.L.1232, No.150) and July 9, 1990 (P.L.348,
15 No.79), is amended to read:
16 Section 4. Minimum Wages.--Except as may otherwise be
17 provided under this act:
18 (a) Every employer shall pay to each of his employes wages
19 for all hours worked at a rate of not less than[:
20 (1) Two dollars sixty-five cents ($2.65) an hour upon the
1 effective date of this amendment.
2 (2) Two dollars ninety cents ($2.90) an hour during the year
3 beginning January 1, 1979.
4 (3) Three dollars ten cents ($3.10) an hour during the year
5 beginning January 1, 1980.
6 (4) Three dollars thirty-five cents ($3.35) an hour after
7 December 31, 1980.
8 (5) Three dollars seventy cents ($3.70)] five dollars
9 fifteen cents ($5.15) an hour [beginning February 1, 1989] after
10 August 31, 1997, and [thereafter.] before May 1, 2000; five
11 dollars sixty-five cents ($5.65) an hour after April 30, 2000,
12 and before May 1, 2001; and six dollars fifteen cents ($6.15) an
13 hour after April 30, 2001.
14 (a.1) If the minimum wage set forth in the Fair Labor
15 Standards Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.)
16 is increased above [three dollars thirty-five cents ($3.35) an
17 hour] the minimum wage required under this section, the minimum
18 wage required under this section shall be increased by the same
19 amounts and effective the same date as the increases under the
20 Fair Labor Standards Act, and the provisions of subsection (a)
21 are suspended to the extent they differ from those set forth
22 under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
23 (b) The secretary, to the extent necessary to prevent
24 curtailment of employment opportunities, shall by regulations
25 provide for the employment of learners and students, under
26 special certificates at wages lower than the minimum wage
27 applicable under this section, and subject to such limitations
28 as to number, proportion and length of service as the secretary
29 shall prescribe: Provided, That the minimum wage prescribed
30 under this subsection (b) shall not be less than eighty-five
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1 percent of the otherwise applicable wage rate in effect under
2 section 4. A special certificate issued under this subsection
3 shall provide that for six or less students for whom it is
4 issued shall, except during vacation periods, be employed on a
5 part-time basis and not in excess of twenty hours in any
6 workweek at a sub-minimum rate.
7 In the case of an employer who intends to employ seven or
8 more students, at a sub-minimum rate, the secretary may issue a
9 special certificate only if the employer certifies to the
10 secretary that employment of such students will not create a
11 substantial probability of reducing the full-time employment
12 opportunities for other workers.
13 (c) Employes shall be paid for overtime not less than one
14 and one-half times the employe's regular rate as prescribed in
15 regulations promulgated by the secretary: Provided, That
16 students employed in seasonal occupations as defined and
17 delimited by regulations promulgated by the secretary may, by
18 such regulations, be excluded from the overtime provisions of
19 this act: And provided further, That the secretary shall
20 promulgate regulations with respect to overtime subject to the
21 limitations that no pay for overtime in addition to the regular
22 rate shall be required except for hours in excess of forty hours
23 in a workweek.
24 (d) An employe whose earning capacity is impaired by
25 physical or mental deficiency or injury may be paid less than
26 the applicable minimum wage if either a license specifying a
27 wage rate commensurate with the employe's productive capacity
28 has been obtained by the employer from the secretary or a
29 Federal certificate is obtained under section 14(c) of the Fair
30 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et
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1 seq.). A license obtained from the secretary shall be granted
2 only upon joint application of employer and employe.
3 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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