Regular Session 2023-2024 House Bill 1500 P.N. 1534

PRINTER'S NO. 1534

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No.

1500

Session of

2023

INTRODUCED BY DAWKINS, KIM, McNEILL, PROBST, VENKAT, HILL-EVANS,

KRUEGER, SCHLOSSBERG, DELLOSO, KENYATTA, GALLAGHER, MADDEN,

GIRAL, N. NELSON, SOLOMON, HADDOCK, SANCHEZ, GUENST, NEILSON,

SCOTT, BOROWSKI, STURLA, KINSEY, CERRATO, BOYLE, WAXMAN AND

WARREN, JUNE 12, 2023

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRY, JUNE 12, 2023

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.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. Sections 3(d) and 4(a) of the act of January 17,

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

amended 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.

"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] sixty percent of the cash wage required to be paid

the employe 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

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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.

* * *

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) Eleven dollars ($11) an hour beginning January 1, 2024.

(10) Thirteen dollars ($13) an hour beginning January 1,

2025.

(11) Fifteen dollars ($15) an hour beginning January 1,

2026.

(12) Beginning January 1, 2027, and each 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, transmit a notice of the determination to the

Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next

available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

* * *

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

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