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PRINTER'S NO. 1955
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1520
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY KIM, CALTAGIRONE, DEAN, BRIGGS, RABB, SOLOMON,
DERMODY, SCHLOSSBERG, CARROLL, SAMUELSON, YOUNGBLOOD, HANNA,
FRANKEL, STURLA, DeLISSIO, MARKOSEK, WARREN, V. BROWN,
GALLOWAY, DONATUCCI, MATZIE, MADDEN, FREEMAN, D. COSTA,
KORTZ, DALEY, HARKINS, COMITTA, FITZGERALD, McCLINTON,
KINSEY, GOODMAN, DAVIS, BULLOCK, THOMAS, WHEATLEY, ROEBUCK,
HILL-EVANS, DRISCOLL, DeLUCA, PASHINSKI, O'BRIEN, FLYNN,
RAVENSTAHL, McNEILL, McCARTER, MULLERY, KULIK AND NEILSON,
JUNE 9, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JUNE 9, 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; further providing for
minimum wage advisory board and for enforcement and rules and
regulations; providing for rules and regulations; and further
providing for civil actions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 3(d) and (i) of the act of January 17,
1968 (P.L.11, No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, are
amended and the section is amended by adding a subsection to
read:
Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:
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* * *
(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] 9.1.
"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
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subparagraph; 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 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.]
* * *
(i) ["Gratuities"] "Gratuity" or "tip" means a voluntary,
monetary [contributions] contribution received by an employe
from a guest, patron or customer for services rendered.
(j) "Tipped employe" means an employe who customarily and
regularly receives a gratuity during the course of the employe's
employment.
Section 2. Section 4(a) of the act is amended by adding
paragraphs 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
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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) Twelve dollars ($12.00) an hour beginning January 1,
2018.
(10) Twelve dollars fifty cents ($12.50) an hour beginning
January 1, 2019.
(11) Thirteen dollars ($13.00) an hour beginning January 1,
2020.
(12) Thirteen dollars fifty cents ($13.50) an hour beginning
January 1, 2021.
(13) Fourteen dollars ($14.00) an hour beginning January 1,
2022.
(14) Fourteen dollars fifty cents ($14.50) an hour beginning
January 1, 2023.
(15) Fifteen dollars ($15.00) an hour beginning January 1,
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2024.
(16) Beginning January 1, 2025, and for each succeeding
January 1 thereafter, 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 (5ยข), 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.
* * *
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 wages for all hours worked at a rate of not less
than:
(1) Nine dollars ($9.00) an hour upon the effective date of
this section.
(2) Nine dollars thirty-eight cents ($9.38) an hour
beginning January 1, 2019.
(3) Nine dollars seventy-five cents ($9.75) an hour
beginning January 1, 2020.
(4) Ten dollars thirteen cents ($10.13) an hour beginning
January 1, 2021.
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(5) Ten dollars fifty cents ($10.50) an hour beginning
January 1, 2022.
(6) Ten dollars eighty-eight cents ($10.88) an hour
beginning January 1, 2023.
(7) Twelve dollars ($12.00) an hour beginning January 1,
2024.
(8) Beginning January 1, 2025, and for each succeeding
January 1 thereafter, 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 (5ยข), 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.
(b) The following shall apply:
(1) Each tipped employe shall be informed in writing by the
employer, no later than twenty days after the effective date of
this section, that the tipped employe will be paid not less than
the appropriate minimum wage under subsection (a).
(2) Each gratuity received by the employe shall be retained
by the employe and shall not be surrendered or paid to the
employer. This paragraph shall not be deemed to prohibit the
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pooling of gratuities among tipped employes.
(3) If a gratuity is added, either by the employer or
manager of the establishment or by the guest, patron or
customer, to the charge to the guest, patron or customer, the
gratuity shall become the property of the tipped employe and
shall not be used by the employer to satisfy the requirement to
pay the wage then in effect.
Section 4. Sections 6(e)(2) and 9 of the act are amended to
read:
Section 6. Minimum Wage Advisory Board.--* * *
(e) The board shall have the power and duty to:
* * *
(2) conduct public hearings at the request of the secretary
in order to develop rules and regulations in accordance with
section [9] 9.1 of this act, in which hearings due process of
law shall be observed and any person may appear and be heard or
file statements in support of his or her position;
* * *
Section 9. [Enforcement; Rules and Regulations.--The
secretary shall enforce this act. The secretary shall make and,
from time to time, revise regulations, with the assistance of
the board, when requested by the secretary, which shall be
deemed appropriate to carry out the purposes of this act and to
safeguard the minimum wage rates thereby established. Such
regulations may include, but are not limited to, regulations
defining and governing bona fide executive, administrative, or
professional employes and outside salespersons, learners and
apprentices, their number, proportion, length of learning
period, and other working conditions; handicapped workers; part-
time pay; overtime standards; bonuses; allowances for board,
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lodging, apparel, or other facilities or services customarily
furnished by employers to employes; allowances for gratuities;
or allowances for such other special conditions or circumstances
which may be incidental to a particular employer-employe
relationship.] Enforcement.--(a) The secretary shall have the
authority to investigate claims of violations of this act and to
assess administrative penalties under section 12 of this act.
(b) The Attorney General and the district attorneys of the
several counties shall have concurrent jurisdiction to bring
action for a criminal violation of this act under section 12 of
this act. A person charged by the Attorney General does not have
standing to challenge the authority of the Attorney General to
prosecute the action. If a challenge is made, the challenge
shall be dismissed and no relief may be available in the courts
of this Commonwealth to the person making the challenge.
Section 5. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 9.1. Rules and Regulations.--(a) The secretary
shall make and revise regulations, with the assistance of the
board, to carry out the purposes of this act and to safeguard
the payment of the wage rates established under this act.
(b) The regulations may include regulations defining and
governing any of the following:
(1) Bona fide executive, administrative or professional
employes and outside salespersons.
(2) Learners and apprentices and the number, proportion,
length of learning period and other working conditions of
learners and apprentices.
(3) Handicapped workers.
(4) Part-time pay.
(5) Overtime standards.
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(6) Bonuses.
(7) Allowances for apparel, board, lodging or other
facilities or services customarily furnished by employers to
employes.
(8) Allowances for gratuities.
(9) Allowances for other special conditions or circumstances
that may be incidental to a particular employer-employe
relationship.
Section 6. Section 13 of the act is amended to read:
Section 13. Civil Actions.--(a) If any employe is paid by
his or her employer less than the minimum wages provided by
section 4 of this act or by any regulation issued thereunder,
such [worker] employe may recover in a civil action the full
amount of such minimum wage less any amount actually paid to the
[worker] employe by the employer, together with costs and such
reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, and
any agreement between the employer and the [worker] employe to
work for less than such minimum wage shall be no defense to such
action.
(b) At the request of any employe paid less than the minimum
wage to which such employe was entitled under this act and
regulations issued [thereunder] under this act, the secretary
may take an assignment of such wage claim, in trust for the
assigning [worker] employe and may bring any legal action
necessary to collect such claim, and the employer shall be
required to pay the cost and such reasonable attorney's fees as
may be allowed by the court.
Section 7. This act shall take effect as follows:
(1) The amendment of the definition of "wage" under
section 3(d) of the act and the addition of section 4.1 of
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the act shall take effect in six months.
(2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
immediately.
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