Regular Session 2017-2018 House Bill 1520 P.N. 1955

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:

* * *

(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 (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.

* * *

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 (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.

(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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