Raise the Wage Act Bill Text

.....................................................................

(Original Signature of Member)

118

CONGRESS

ESSION

H. R. ll

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Mr. S

COTT

of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on llllllllllllll

A BILL

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and

for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raise the Wage Act 4

of 2023’’. 5

SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES. 6

(a) I

ENERAL

.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 7

Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 8

to read as follows: 9

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‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec-1

tion, not less than— 2

‘‘(A) $9.50 an hour, beginning on the ef-3

fective date under section 7 of the Raise the 4

Wage Act of 2023; 5

‘‘(B) $11.00 an hour, beginning 1 year 6

after such effective date; 7

‘‘(C) $12.50 an hour, beginning 2 years 8

after such effective date; 9

‘‘(D) $14.00 an hour, beginning 3 years 10

after such effective date; 11

‘‘(E) $15.50 an hour, beginning 4 years 12

after such effective date; 13

‘‘(F) $17.00 an hour, beginning 5 years 14

after such effective date; and 15

‘‘(G) beginning on the date that is 6 years 16

after such effective date, and annually there-17

after, the amount determined by the Secretary 18

under subsection (h);’’. 19

(b) D

ETERMINATION

ASED ON

NCREASE IN THE

EDIAN

OURLY

AGE OF

MPLOYEES

.—Section 21

6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 22

206) is amended by adding at the end the following:23

‘‘(h)(1) Not later than each date that is 90 days be-24

fore a new minimum wage determined under subsection 25

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(a)(1)(G) is to take effect, the Secretary shall determine 1

the minimum wage to be in effect under this subsection 2

for each period described in subsection (a)(1)(G). The 3

wage determined under this subsection for a year shall 4

be— 5

‘‘(A) not less than the amount in effect under 6

subsection (a)(1) on the date of such determination; 7

‘‘(B) increased from such amount by the annual 8

percentage increase, if any, in the median hourly 9

wage of all employees as determined by the Bureau 10

of Labor Statistics; and 11

‘‘(C) rounded up to the nearest multiple of 12

$0.05, if the amount after applying subparagraphs 13

(A) and (B) is not a multiple of $0.05.14

‘‘(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in 15

the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 16

paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary, through the Bureau of 17

Labor Statistics, shall compile data on the hourly wages 18

of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 19

and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 20

year for which data are available with the median hourly 21

wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 22

SEC. 3. TIPPED EMPLOYEES.23

(a) B

ASE

INIMUM

AGE FOR

IPPED

MPLOYEES

AND

IPS

ETAINED BY

MPLOYEES

.—Section 25

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3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 1

(29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)) is amended to read as fol-2

lows: 3

‘‘(i) the cash wage paid such employee, which 4

for purposes of such determination shall be not less 5

than— 6

‘‘(I) for the 1-year period beginning on the 7

effective date under section 7 of the Raise the 8

Wage Act of 2023, $6.00 an hour; 9

‘‘(II) $8.00 an hour, beginning 1 year 10

after such effective date; 11

‘‘(III) $10.00 an hour, beginning 2 years 12

after such effective date; 13

‘‘(IV) $12.00 an hour, beginning 3 years 14

after such effective date; 15

‘‘(V) $13.50 an hour, beginning 4 years 16

after such effective date; 17

‘‘(VI) $15.00 an hour, beginning 5 years 18

after such effective date; 19

‘‘(VII) $17.00 an hour, beginning 6 years 20

after such effective date; and 21

‘‘(VIII) for each succeeding 1-year period 22

after the increase made pursuant to subclause 23

(VII), the minimum wage in effect under sec-24

tion 6(a)(1); and’’. 25

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(b) T

IPS

ETAINED BY

MPLOYEES

.—Section 1

3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 2

U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is amended— 3

(1) in the second sentence of the matter fol-4

lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘of this subsection, 5

and all tips received by such employee have been re-6

tained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of this sub-7

section. Any employee shall have the right to retain 8

any tips received by such employee’’; and 9

(2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em-10

ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 11

exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 12

CHEDULED

EPEAL OF

EPARATE

INIMUM

AGE FOR

IPPED

MPLOYEES

.— 14

(1) T

IPPED EMPLOYEES

.—Section 3(m)(2)(A)15

of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 16

203(m)(2)(A)), as amended by subsections (a) and 17

(b), is further amended by striking the sentence be-18

ginning with ‘‘In determining the wage an employer 19

is required to pay a tipped employee,’’ and all that 20

follows through ‘‘of this subsection.’’ and inserting 21

‘‘The wage required to be paid to a tipped employee 22

shall be the wage set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 23

(2) P

UBLICATION OF NOTICE

.—Subsection (i)24

of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 25

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1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as added by section 5 and 1

amended by section 6(b)(1), is further amended by 2

striking ‘‘or in accordance with subclause (II) or 3

(III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i),’’.4

(3) E

FFECTIVE DATE

.—The amendments made5

by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the 6

date that is 1 day after the date on which the hourly 7

wage under subclause (VIII) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i) 8

of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 9

203(m)(2)(A)(i)), as amended by subsection (a), 10

takes effect. 11

(d) P

ENALTIES

.—Section 16 of the Fair Labor12

Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 13

(1) in the third sentence of subsection (b), by 14

inserting ‘‘or used’’ after ‘‘kept’’; and 15

(2) in the second sentence of subsection (e)(2), 16

by inserting ‘‘or used’’ after ‘‘kept’’. 17

SEC. 4. NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 2018

YEARS OLD.19

(a) B

ASE

INIMUM

AGE FOR

EWLY

IRED

-20

PLOYEES

ESS

HAN

20 Y

EARS

.—Section 21

6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 22

U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘a wage which23

is not less than $4.25 an hour.’’ and inserting the fol-24

lowing: ‘‘a wage at a rate that is not less than— 25

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‘‘(A) for the 1-year period beginning on the ef-1

fective date under section 7 of the Raise the Wage 2

Act of 2023, $6.00 an hour; 3

‘‘(B) for each succeeding 1-year period until the 4

hourly wage under this paragraph equals the wage 5

in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, an 6

hourly wage equal to the amount determined under 7

this paragraph for the preceding year, increased by 8

the lesser of— 9

‘‘(i) $1.75; or 10

‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the wage in 11

effect under this paragraph to equal the wage 12

in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period; 13

and 14

‘‘(C) for each succeeding 1-year period after the 15

increase made pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), the 16

minimum wage in effect under section 6(a)(1).’’. 17

(b) S

CHEDULED

EPEAL OF

EPARATE

INIMUM

AGE FOR

EWLY

IRED

MPLOYEES

ESS

HAN

20 Y

EARS

.— 20

(1) I

N GENERAL

.—Section 6(g) of the Fair21

Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)), as 22

amended by subsection (a), shall be repealed. 23

(2) P

UBLICATION OF NOTICE

.—Subsection (i)24

of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 25

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1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as added by section 5 and 1

amended by sections 6(b)(1) and 3(c)(2), is further 2

amended by striking ‘‘or subparagraph (B) or (C) of 3

subsection (g)(1)’’. 4

(3) E

FFECTIVE DATE

.—The repeal and amend-5

ment made by paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, 6

shall take effect on the date that is 1 day after the 7

date on which the hourly wage under subparagraph 8

Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)), as amended by 10

subsection (a), takes effect. 11

SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF NOTICE. 12

Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 13

(29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by section 2(b), is further 14

amended by adding at the end the following: 15

‘‘(i) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date 16

of any increase in the required wage determined under 17

subsection (a)(1) or subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 18

(g)(1), or in accordance with subclause (II) or (III) of sec-19

tion 3(m)(2)(A)(i) or section 14(c)(1)(A), the Secretary 20

shall publish in the Federal Register and on the website 21

of the Department of Labor a notice announcing each in-22

crease in such required wage.’’. 23

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SEC. 6. PROMOTING ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR IN-1

DIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 2

(a) W

AGES

.—3

(1) T

RANSITION TO FAIR WAGES FOR INDIVID

-4

UALS WITH DISABILITIES

.—Subparagraph (A) of 5

section 14(c)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 6

1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)(1)) is amended to read as 7

follows: 8

‘‘(A) at a rate that equals or exceeds, for each 9

year, the greater of— 10

‘‘(i)(I) $5.00 an hour, beginning on the ef-11

fective date under section 7 of the Raise the 12

Wage Act of 2023; 13

‘‘(II) $7.50 an hour, beginning 1 year 14

after such effective date; 15

‘‘(III) $10.00 an hour, beginning 2 years 16

after such effective date; 17

‘‘(IV) $12.50 an hour, beginning 3 years 18

after such effective date; 19

‘‘(V) $15.50 an hour, beginning 4 years 20

after such effective date; and 21

‘‘(VI) the wage rate in effect under section 22

6(a)(1), beginning 5 years after such effective 23

date; or 24

‘‘(ii) if applicable, the wage rate in effect 25

on the day before the date of enactment of the 26

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Raise the Wage Act of 2023 for the employ-1

ment, under a special certificate issued under 2

this paragraph, of the individual for whom the 3

wage rate is being determined under this sub-4

paragraph,’’. 5

(2) P

ROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI

-6

CATES

;

TRANSITION ASSISTANCE

.— 7

(A) I

N GENERAL

.—Section 14(c) of the8

Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 9

214(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 10

following: 11

‘‘(6) P

ROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI

-12

CATES

.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec-13

retary shall not issue a special certificate under this 14

subsection to an employer that was not issued a spe-15

cial certificate under this subsection before the date 16

of enactment of the Raise the Wage Act of 2023. 17

‘‘(7) T

RANSITION ASSISTANCE

.—Upon request, 18

the Secretary shall provide— 19

‘‘(A) technical assistance and information 20

to employers issued a special certificate under 21

this subsection for the purposes of— 22

‘‘(i) assisting such employers to com-23

ply with this subsection, as amended by 24

the Raise the Wage Act of 2023; and 25

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‘‘(ii) ensuring continuing employment 1

opportunities for individuals with disabil-2

ities receiving a special minimum wage 3

rate under this subsection; and 4

‘‘(B) information to individuals employed 5

at a special minimum wage rate under this sub-6

section, which may include referrals to Federal 7

or State entities with expertise in competitive 8

integrated employment.’’. 9

(B) E

FFECTIVE DATE

.—The amendments10

made by this paragraph shall take effect on the 11

date of enactment of this Act. 12

(3) S

UNSET

.—Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor13

Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)), as 14

amended by paragraph (2), is further amended by 15

adding at the end the following: 16

‘‘(8) S

UNSET

.—Beginning on the day after the 17

date on which the wage rate described in paragraph 18

(1)(A)(i)(VI) takes effect, the authority to issue spe-19

cial certificates under paragraph (1) shall expire, 20

and no special certificates issued under paragraph 21

(1) shall have any legal effect.’’.22

(b) P

UBLICATION OF

OTICE

.—23

(1) A

MENDMENT

.—Subsection (i) of section 624

of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 25

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206), as added by section 5, is amended by striking 1

‘‘or section 14(c)(1)(A)’’. 2

(2) E

FFECTIVE DATE

.—The amendment made3

by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the day after 4

the date on which the wage rate described in para-5

graph (1)(A)(i)(VI) of section 14(c) of the Fair 6

Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)), as 7

amended by subsection (a)(1), takes effect. 8

SEC. 7. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE. 9

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act and 10

the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the 11

first day of the third month that begins after the date 12

of the enactment of this Act. 13

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