For Immediate Release
March 21, 2022
Contact: Stephen Herzenberg, 717-805-2318
Statement of Keystone Research Center on New Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Regulation
Earlier this afternoon, Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Committee (IRRC) voted 5-0 to approve a new Pennsylvania minimum wage regulation. The regulation now goes to the Office of Auditor General (OAG) for final approval, after which it becomes effective through publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The final form regulation is available at this link and Keystone Research Center’s explainer on the regulation at this link. In response to the unanimous approval of the regulation, Stephen Herzenberg, economist and executive director of the Keystone Research Center, issued the following statement:
“Through this new regulation, Pennsylvania takes modest steps to improve the pay of tipped workers—many of whom are among our lowest-paid hourly workers—and to raise overtime pay for lower-paid salaried workers who receive overtime. No longer can managers and supervisors in Pennsylvania unfairly take a share of pooled tips, companies charge tipped workers for credit card fees, or businesses reduce workers’ paychecks by tip amounts if workers only occasionally receive tips. In addition, the protection of time-and-a-half overtime pay for lower-paid salaried employees is now embedded in Pennsylvania minimum wage regulations for the first time (not just backed by court decisions).
These are modest and overdue steps to shift the balance in Pennsylvania’s highly inequitable economy in favor of workers. Keystone Research Center applauds the Wolf administration and the IRRC for advancing these changes. Much more, however, remains to be done, starting with the phase-in of a Pennsylvania state minimum wage to $15 per hour.”
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