Regular Session 2015-2016 Senate Bill 0196 P.N. 0243

PRINTER'S NO. 243

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

196

Session of

2015

INTRODUCED BY TARTAGLIONE, HAYWOOD, FONTANA, HUGHES, COSTA AND

SCHWANK, JANUARY 28, 2015

REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JANUARY 28, 2015

AN ACT

Amending the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), entitled

"An act establishing a fixed minimum wage and overtime rates

for employes, with certain exceptions; providing for minimum

rates for learners and apprentices; creating a Minimum Wage

Advisory Board and defining its powers and duties; conferring

powers and imposing duties upon the Department of Labor and

Industry; imposing duties on employers; and providing

penalties," further providing for definitions and for rate of

minimum wages; and providing for reporting by the department.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 3(d) of the act of January 17, 1968

(P.L.11, No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, amended

July 9, 2006 (P.L.1077, No.112), is amended to read:

Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:

* * *

(d) "Wages" mean compensation due to any employe by reason

of his or her employment, payable in legal tender of the United

States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at

full face value, subject to such deductions, charges or

allowances as may be permitted by regulations of the secretary

under section 9.

"Wage" paid to any employe includes the reasonable cost, as

determined by the secretary, to the employer for furnishing such

employe with board, lodging, or other facilities, if such board,

lodging, or other facilities are customarily furnished by such

employer to his or her employes: Provided, That the cost of

board, lodging, or other facilities shall not be included as a

part of the wage paid to any employe to the extent it is

excluded therefrom under the terms of a bona fide collective-

bargaining agreement applicable to the particular employe:

Provided, further, That the secretary is authorized to determine

the fair value of such board, lodging, or other facilities for

defined classes of employes and in defined areas, based on

average cost to the employer or to groups of employers similarly

situated, or average value to groups of employes, or other

appropriate measures of fair value. Such evaluations, where

applicable and pertinent, shall be used in lieu of actual

measure of cost in determining the wage paid to any employe.

In determining the hourly wage an employer is required to pay

a tipped employe, the amount paid such employe by his or her

employer shall be an amount equal to: (i) the cash wage paid the

employe which for the purposes of the determination shall be not

less than the cash wage required to be paid the employe [on the

date immediately prior to the effective date of this

subparagraph] under section 4 of this act; and (ii) an

additional amount on account of the tips received by the employe

which is equal to the difference between the wage specified in

subparagraph (i) and the wage in effect under section 4 of this

act. The additional amount on account of tips may not exceed the

value of tips actually received by the employe. The previous

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sentence shall not apply with respect to any tipped employe

unless:

(1) Such employe has been informed by the employer of the

provisions of this subsection;

(2) All tips received by such employe have been retained by

the employe and shall not be surrendered to the employer to be

used as wages to satisfy the requirement to pay the current

hourly minimum rate in effect; where the gratuity is added to

the charge made by the establishment, either by the management,

or by the customer, the gratuity shall become the property of

the employe; except that this subsection shall not be construed

to prohibit the pooling of tips among employes who customarily

and regularly receive tips.

* * *

Section 2. Section 4(a) of the act, amended July 5, 2012

(P.L.987, No.109), is amended to read:

Section 4. Minimum Wages.--Except as may otherwise be

provided under this act:

(a) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employes

wages for all hours worked at a rate of not less than:

(1) Two dollars sixty-five cents ($2.65) an hour upon the

effective date of this amendment.

(2) Two dollars ninety cents ($2.90) an hour during the year

beginning January 1, 1979.

(3) Three dollars ten cents ($3.10) an hour during the year

beginning January 1, 1980.

(4) Three dollars thirty-five cents ($3.35) an hour after

December 31, 1980.

(5) Three dollars seventy cents ($3.70) an hour beginning

February 1, 1989.

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(6) Five dollars fifteen cents ($5.15) an hour beginning

September 1, 1997.

(7) Six dollars twenty-five cents ($6.25) an hour beginning

January 1, 2007.

(8) Seven dollars fifteen cents ($7.15) an hour beginning

July 1, 2007.

(9) For a tipped employe who customarily and regularly

receives tips, but who actually receives in tips an amount equal

to the rate otherwise applicable under this section:

(i) three dollars ninety-five cents ($3.95) an hour in cash

wages beginning July 1, 2015; and

(ii) seventy percent (70%) of the rate otherwise applicable

under this section or the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (52

Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), whichever is greater, an

hour in cash wages beginning January 1, 2016.

* * *

Section 3. The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 13.1. Reporting by Department.--The department shall

collect information of the number of employers who violate the

provisions of this act, including the amount of fines imposed

for violations, and shall publish the information on the

department's publicly accessible Internet website. The

department shall update the information every six months.

Section 4. Any and all regulations are hereby abrogated to

the extent of any inconsistency with this act.

Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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