Regular Session 2017-2018 House Bill 1715 P.N. 2300

PRINTER'S NO. 2300

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1715

Session of

2017

INTRODUCED BY NEILSON, DRISCOLL, CALTAGIRONE, DAVIS, READSHAW,

STURLA, V. BROWN, W. KELLER, SCHWEYER, McNEILL AND DONATUCCI,

AUGUST 16, 2017

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, AUGUST 16, 2017

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 minimum

wages; providing for tipped employees; and further providing

for exemptions.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Section 3 of the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11,

No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, is amended to

read:

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

(a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Labor and Industry.

(b) "Department" means the Department of Labor and Industry.

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; and (ii) an additional amount on account of the

tips received by the employe which is equal to the difference

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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 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.]

(e) "Occupation" means any industry, trade, business,

service, or employment or class or group thereof in which

individuals are gainfully employed.

(f) "Employe" includes to suffer or to permit to work.

(g) "Employer" includes any individual, partnership,

association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group

of persons acting, directly or indirectly, in the interest of an

employer in relation to any employe.

(h) "Employe" includes any individual employed by an

employer.

(i) "Gratuities" means voluntary, monetary contributions

received by an employe from a guest, patron or customer for

services rendered.

(j) "Minor" means an individual under the age of eighteen

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years.

(k) "Tipped employe" means an employe who engages in an

occupation in which the employe customarily and regularly

receives a gratuity.

Section 2. Section 4(a) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection 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.

(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) Nine dollars fifty cents ($9.50) an hour beginning sixty

days after the effective date of this paragraph. After the

increase in the minimum wage to nine dollars fifty cents ($9.50)

an hour, the minimum wage shall be increased by eighteen and

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three-quarter cents ($0.1875) every two months for a period of

two years. After the two-year period, the minimum wage shall be

increased by an annual cost-of-living adjustment calculated by

the secretary using the percentage change in the Consumer Price

Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New

Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area. In calculating the

adjustment, the secretary shall use the most recent twelve-month

period for which figures have been officially reported by the

United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At least sixty days prior to the date the adjustment is due to

take effect, the percentage increase and the minimum wage

amount, rounded to the nearest multiple of five cents (5¢),

shall be determined by the secretary. The secretary shall,

within ten days following the determination, forward a notice of

the determination to the Legislative Reference Bureau for

publication in the next Pennsylvania Bulletin.

* * *

(a.2) Except as provided under subsections (b) and (d), an

employer shall pay a minor employe a minimum wage rate equal to

the Federal minimum wage.

* * *

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

Section 4.1. Tipped employes..-- (a) An employer shall pay a

tipped employe a minimum w age for all hours worked at a rate of

not less than:

(1) Two dollars eighty-three cents ($2.83) an hour upon the

effective date of this section.

(2) Beginning sixty days after the effective date of this

section, the minimum wage rate under subsection (a)(1) shall be

increased by twenty-four and three-quarter cents ($0.2475) every

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two months for a period of two years. A f ter the two-year period,

the minimum wage shall be increased by an annual cost-of-living

adjustment calculated by the secretary using the percentage

change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-

U) for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area.

In calculating the adjustment, the secretary shall use the most

recent twelve-month period for which figures have been

officially reported by the United States Department of Labor,

Bureau of Labor Statistics.

(b) An employer shall inform a tipped employe of the

provisions of this section.

by the tipped 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.

(d) Where a 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. This

subsection may not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips

among tipped employes.

Section 4. Section 5(c) of the act is amended and the

section is amended by adding a subsection to read:

Section 5. Exemptions.--* * *

and (8), an employer unless otherwise exempt from the minimum

wage provisions of section 4(a)(6) whose employe complement is

composed of the equivalent of ten or less full-time employes to

be calculated on a forty-hour workweek shall pay:

(i) Five dollars sixty-five cents ($5.65) an hour beginning

January 1, 2007.

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(ii) Six dollars sixty-five cents ($6.65) an hour beginning

July 1, 2007.

(2) Such employer shall pay the full amount of the minimum

wage under [section 4(a)(8)] section 4(a) beginning July 1,

2008.

(d) Upon application to the department, an employer with

less than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in gross

annual sales shall pay employes a minimum wage rate that is

equal to the minimum wage rate established under section 4(a)

(9), minus ten percent of the Federal minimum wage rate.

Section 5. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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