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Minimum Wage
Date: 2019
From: Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection
Publisher: Gale, a Cengage Company
Document Type: Topic overview
Length: 2,214 words
Content Level: (Level 5)
Lexile Measure:
1480L
Full Text:
In the United States, a minimum wage refers to the lowest wage that an employer can pay a worker according to federal, state, local,
or tribal law. For some trades, industry-specific minimum wages are established by professional associations, and individual
companies sometimes institute their own minimum wage policies. Minimum wages set by non-governmental organizations are usually
higher than those set by law. In 2007 lawmakers created legislation to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour,
which had been in effect since 1997, to $7.25 per hour in 2009.
Regardless of state law, US employers must pay at least the federal minimum wage to workers whose employment circumstances
meet certain criteria. These criteria have evolved since the federal minimum wage was first established by the Fair Labor Standards
Act (FLSA) of 1938. The FLSA covers more than 143 million workers in the United States and its territories. Many candidates for the
