The First Minimum Wage Laws - 1595 Words

The first minimum wage laws dated back from 1912 and these laws covered women and children. During the U.S. Supreme Court case of Adkins v. Children’s Hospital in 1923, the â€Å"minimum wage law violated the right of contract under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment† (Thies, 1991 para. 1). The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provided the legal minimum wage standards and the first wage was 25 cents per hour as of October 24, 1938 (Douty, 1967). Additionally, this act intention was to transfer employment from children to jobless adults (Kocin, 1967). It is amazing that the first minimum wage only allowed certain groups of employees to receive the hourly minimum rate and was focused on interstate commerce. For example in 1967 the large farm employees were established as $1 per hour and prior to this, there was no standard. This was directly responsible because of the amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1961 and 1966. Additional laws that accom pany the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 are the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. First the Equal Pay Act of 1963 provided employees with a similar wages rate regardless of gender (Mathis, Jackson, Valentine, and Meglich, 2014). Next, the Rehabilitation Act was passed in 1973 and it was the first law dealing with disabilities. This law pertains only to federal contractors and requires them to hire the individual under affirmative action rules. Lastly,Show MoreRelatedThe Effects of a Minimum Wage Law655 Words   |  3 PagesWhat are the Effects of a Minimum Wage Law? A minimum wage is the lowest amount of money per hour that the government of the country assigns employers to pay their employees. The minimum wage is based on an idea that the employers have a responsibility for their employees to live in a reasonable standard of living. The minimum wage laws have directly effect to most industries because of the potential of decreasing their budget. As a result, the minimum wage is still an issue that people researchRead MoreMinimum Wage and Its Implications763 Words   |  3 PagesMinimum wage affects everyone. The current minimum wage is at $7.25 and President Obama announced that he wished to see a change in the minimum wage, he wants to raise the hourly wage to $10.10. A rise in the income of those who are employed will also raise the cost of hiring unskilled labor and can potentially reduce the number of people hired by businesses. Also, if minimum wage is raised then the price of the products that the companies are making might increase whic h will continue the cycle ofRead MoreMinimum Wage Laws For The United States Essay1742 Words   |  7 PagesThe minimum wage is the mandated price floor paid on hourly or daily basis for the employees regulated by the government or the union. In â€Å"Federal Minimum Wage†, New Zealand and Australia enacted the first minimum wage law during the late 19th century to prevent employers’ exploitation of workers. In 1912, Massachusetts passed the first minimum wage legislation in the US that was enforced for women and children, and fifteen more states followed in the next eleven years. However, the Supreme CourtRead MoreAmerica s Minimum Wage At Arizona s Current $ 8.05 Per Hour Essay1174 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"A yes vote on Proposition 206, also called the Healthy Working Families Initiative, would increase the minimum wage from Arizona’s current $8.05 per hour to $10 per hour by 2017 and eventually to $12 per hour by 2020† (Rau). While the first part o f Prop. 206 seems to be getting more attention in the media and form the business community, the second part will trigger the most disruptive changes for Arizona employers, especially small employers. Recent polling indicates that nearly 60 percent of likelyRead MoreEssay on Minimum Wage is The Bare Minimum1018 Words   |  5 PagesMinimum Wage: The Bare Minimum They work hard every day; they stock our store shelves, wash dishes at our restaurants, clean our offices at night, care for our kids during the day...They have in common the minimum wage. And they need a raise, and as you saw, they deserve a raise (Clinton). President Clinton made this speech on the south lawn of the White House at 10:30 a.m. on the 8th of March 2000. He argued for the minimum wage hike to go into effect. He argued for the populationRead MoreThe Minimum Wage Law Should Not Exist1684 Words   |  7 PagesThe minimum wage law was first enacted in January 1938 (Mutari, Ellen), and since then, people have falsely been led to believe that it is beneficial to the economy as well as the general population. It has commonly been seen as a method to reduce poverty by redistributing income in order to make sure that people earn a healthy, living wage; however, evidence has shown that it in fact does just the opposite. Forcing a minimum wage goes against the free market, a nd severely disrupts the natural processRead MoreThe Price Of Minimum Wage1406 Words   |  6 Pagesanalyse and draw conclusions on minimum wage in relation to its standing in business law, we first of all need to define what the meaning of the term is. National minimum wage was introduced in 1998 through the national minimum wage act. This enforced that employers would pay each employee a set value set by the government per working hour. One of the main benefits of this was that the most low skills jobs within society received a fair wage. Setting the price of minimum wage is a complex task as the mainRead MoreThe Effects Of Minimum Wage On The Economy1391 Words   |  6 PagesThe Effects Minimum Wage on the Economy The controversial topic about increasing minimum wage is debated countless times over the years. Minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer can pay an employee permitted by law. The contemporary federal minimum wage is $7.25. Minimum wage applies to all domestic workers but teenagers are the main receivers of minimum wage. Minimum wage has a major effect on the economy. The question is are the effects positive or negative. There are many arguments on whetherRead MoreCongress As Part Of The Fair Labor Standards Act1084 Words   |  5 PagesStandards Act (FLSA) instituted minimum wage back in 1938. The first minimum wage was at $0.25 per hour and the last minimum wage increase occurred in 2007. Over the past 65 years the minimum wage has varied considerably in inflation-adjusted buying power. It has averaged $6.60 an hour in purchasing power in 2013 dollars, but it has ranged from a low of $3.09 an hour in late 1948 to a high of $8.67 an hour in 1968. Today’s minimum wage buys somewhat more than the minimum wage has historically, althoughRead MoreMinimum Wage : Low Skilled And Young Workers1553 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Minimum wage, a program created to help the poor, has every contrary effect to its well intentions. Throughout the history, people who hurt the most during minimum wage hikes are the low-skilled and young workers. Drastically raising minimum wage is meaningless as high inflation usually comes alongside with wage increases. Past economic statistics have shown that the rate of increase in inflation usually outpaced the rate of increase in minimum wage. Thus, the real value wage workers receive