On Wednesday 21 September 2005 08:03 am, ec wrote:
> *****************************
> We are looking to pay around *5-12 dollars an hour*.
>
>
> I thought since last century that the minimum wage was
> above $5/hr??????? Or was I mistaken???
Minimum wage is a tricky thing. The federal minimum wage is current $5.15/hr.
States are free to have their own minimum wage which may be lower, higher, or
the same. The federal minimum wage only applies to those companies that are
subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Roughly speaking, this means
companies that make more than $500,000/yr or do business across state lines.
If the company isn't subject to FLSA (most "mom and pop" business, for
instance), then the state minimum wage prevails. In states (like Arizona)
that don't have a minimum wage, the company can pay whatever they want.
Mind you, even if the company falls under the FLSA, there are all kinds of
exceptions and loopholes. All the jobs I had in my teens, for instance, paid
well under both the state and federal minimum wage. I went as far as
reporting one employer to the Department of Labor ... they investigated
("anonymous tip" to protect me) and found that the company had a special
exemption that allowed them to pay me 85% of the state minimum wage.
So, $5/hr is obviously an insulting amount for a talented sysadmin, but that
doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a legal amount.
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