Definition: A wage below which employers may not legally pay employees for
specific kinds of employment
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets a minimum wage
that most employees must be paid. At this writing, the federal
minimum wage is $5.15 per hour, where it was set in 1997. In
addition, some states have already set their minimum wages higher
than the federal minimum wage. If your state's minimum wage is
higher, you are subject to that law, which will be enforced by your
state's Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage
and Hour Division enforces the federal minimum wage law.
The federal minimum wage law applies to employees of companies
with $500,000 or more in annual sales, about 100 million employees
in all. About one in 10 U.S. workers receives the federal minimum
wage. The law may also cover smaller firms that are engaged in
interstate commerce or produce goods for commerce. There are a
number of specific exemptions, including a youth sub-minimum wage
law that allows teenage employees to earn lower wages during their
first 90 days on the job. Learn more about it at the Department of Labor's website.