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PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1826 PRINTER'S NO. 1881
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 1549
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY DAWKINS, KHAN AND TAKAC, JUNE 3, 2025
AS AMENDED ON SECOND CONSIDERATION, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
JUNE 10, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), entitled
"An act establishing a fixed minimum wage and overtime rates
for employes, with certain exceptions; providing for minimum
rates for learners and apprentices; creating a Minimum Wage
Advisory Board and defining its powers and duties; conferring
powers and imposing duties upon the Department of Labor and
Industry; imposing duties on employers; and providing
penalties," further providing for definitions, for minimum
wages and for exemptions.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Sections 3(d), 4(a) and (e) and 5(c) of the act
of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), known as The Minimum Wage
Act of 1968, are amended to read:
Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:
* * *
(d) "Wages" mean compensation due to any employe by reason
of his or her employment, payable in legal tender of the United
States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at
full face value, subject to such deductions, charges or
allowances as may be permitted by regulations of the secretary
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under section 9.
"Wage" paid to any employe includes the reasonable cost, as
determined by the secretary, to the employer for furnishing such
employe with board, lodging, or other facilities, if such board,
lodging, or other facilities are customarily furnished by such
employer to his or her employes: Provided, That the cost of
board, lodging, or other facilities shall not be included as a
part of the wage paid to any employe to the extent it is
excluded therefrom under the terms of a bona fide collective-
bargaining agreement applicable to the particular employe:
Provided, further, That the secretary is authorized to determine
the fair value of such board, lodging, or other facilities for
defined classes of employes and in defined areas, based on
average cost to the employer or to groups of employers similarly
situated, or average value to groups of employes, or other
appropriate measures of fair value. Such evaluations, where
applicable and pertinent, shall be used in lieu of actual
measure of cost in determining the wage paid to any employe.
In determining the hourly wage an employer is required to pay
a tipped employe, the amount paid such employe by his or her
employer shall be an amount equal to: (i) the cash wage paid the
employe which for the purposes of the determination shall be not
less than [the cash wage required to be paid the employe on the
date immediately prior to the effective date of this
subparagraph] sixty percent of the cash wage required to be paid
the employe under section 4 of this act; and (ii) an additional
amount on account of the tips received by the employe which is
equal to the difference between the wage specified in
subparagraph (i) and the wage in effect under section 4 of this
act. The additional amount on account of tips may not exceed the
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value of tips actually received by the employe. The previous
sentence shall not apply with respect to any tipped employe
unless:
(1) Such employe has been informed by the employer of the
provisions of this subsection;
(2) All tips received by such employe have been retained by
the employe and shall not be surrendered to the employer to be
used as wages to satisfy the requirement to pay the current
hourly minimum rate in effect; where the gratuity is added to
the charge made by the establishment, either by the management,
or by the customer, the gratuity shall become the property of
the employe; except that this subsection shall not be construed
to prohibit the pooling of tips among employes who customarily
and regularly receive tips.
* * *
Section 4. Minimum Wages.--Except as may otherwise be
provided under this act:
(a) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employes
wages for all hours worked at a rate of not less than:
(1) Two dollars sixty-five cents ($2.65) an hour upon the
effective date of this amendment.
(2) Two dollars ninety cents ($2.90) an hour during the year
beginning January 1, 1979.
(3) Three dollars ten cents ($3.10) an hour during the year
beginning January 1, 1980.
(4) Three dollars thirty-five cents ($3.35) an hour after
December 31, 1980.
(5) Three dollars seventy cents ($3.70) an hour beginning
February 1, 1989.
(6) Five dollars fifteen cents ($5.15) an hour beginning
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September 1, 1997.
(7) Six dollars twenty-five cents ($6.25) an hour beginning
January 1, 2007.
(8) Seven dollars fifteen cents ($7.15) an hour beginning
July 1, 2007.
(9) For employes who are employed by an employer in a county
of the first class:
(i) Fifteen dollars ($15) an hour beginning January 1, 2026.
(ii) Beginning January 1, 2027 2029 , and each January 1
thereafter, the minimum wage for employes who are employed by an
employer in a county of the first class shall be increased by an
annual cost-of-living adjustment calculated by the secretary
using the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Delaware and Maryland area. In calculating the adjustment, the
secretary shall use the most recent twelve-month period for
which figures have been officially reported by the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. At least sixty
days prior to the date the adjustment is due to take effect, the
percentage increase and the minimum wage amount, rounded to the
nearest multiple of five cents (5¢), shall be determined by the
secretary. The secretary shall, within ten days following the
determination, transmit a notice of the determination to the
Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(10) For employes who are employed by an employer in a
county of the second class, second class A or , third class : ,
FOURTH CLASS, IF THE COUNTY OF THE FOURTH CLASS HAS A POPULATION
BETWEEN ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN THOUSAND AND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-
NINE THOUSAND OR BETWEEN ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND TWO
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HUNDRED FIFTY AND ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED,
BASED ON THE 2020 FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS, OR SIXTH CLASS, IF
THE COUNTY OF THE SIXTH CLASS HAS A POPULATION BETWEEN FIFTY-
SEVEN THOUSAND AND FIFTY-NINE THOUSAND, BASED ON THE 2020
FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS:
(i) Eleven dollars ($11) TWELVE DOLLARS ($12) an hour
beginning January 1, 2026.
(ii) Thirteen dollars ($13) an hour beginning January 1,
2027.
(iii) Fifteen dollars ($15) an hour beginning January 1,
2028.
(iv) Beginning January 1, 2029, and each January 1
thereafter, the minimum wage for employes who are employed by an
employer in a county of the second class, second class A or ,
third class , FOURTH CLASS, IF THE COUNTY OF THE FOURTH CLASS HAS
A POPULATION BETWEEN ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SEVEN THOUSAND AND ONE
HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE THOUSAND OR BETWEEN ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT
THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY AND ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT THOUSAND
FOUR HUNDRED , BASED ON THE 2020 FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS, OR
SIXTH CLASS, IF THE COUNTY OF THE SIXTH CLASS HAS A POPULATION
OF BETWEEN FIFTY-SEVEN THOUSAND AND FIFTY-NINE THOUSAND, BASED
ON THE 2020 FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS, shall be increased by an
annual cost-of-living adjustment calculated by the secretary
using the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI- U) for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Delaware and Maryland area. In calculating the adjustment, the
secretary shall use the most recent twelve-month period for
which figures have been officially reported by the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. At least sixty
days prior to the date the adjustment is due to take effect, the
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percentage increase and the minimum wage amount, rounded to the
nearest multiple of five cents (5¢), shall be determined by the
secretary. The secretary shall, within ten days following the
determination, transmit a notice of the determination to the
Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
(11) For employes who are employed by an employer in a
county of the fourth class, OTHER THAN A COUNTY OF THE FOURTH
CLASS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH (10), fifth class, sixth class,
OTHER THAN A COUNTY OF THE SIXTH CLASS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH
(10), seventh class or eighth class:
(i) Ten dollars ($10) an hour beginning January 1, 2026.
(ii) Eleven dollars ($11) an hour beginning January 1, 2027.
(iii) Twelve dollars ($12) an hour beginning January 1,
2028.
(iv) Beginning January 1, 2029, and each January 1
thereafter, the minimum wage for employes who are employed by an
employer in a county of the fourth class, OTHER THAN A COUNTY OF
THE FOURTH CLASS DESCRIBED IN PARAGRAPH (10), fifth class, sixth
class, OTHER THAN A COUNTY OF THE SIXTH CLASS DESCRIBED IN
PARAGRAPH (10), seventh class or eighth class shall be increased
by an annual cost-of-living adjustment calculated by the
secretary using the percentage change in the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area. In calculating the
adjustment, the secretary shall use the most recent twelve-month
period for which figures have been officially reported by the
United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
At least sixty days prior to the date the adjustment is due to
take effect, the percentage increase and the minimum wage
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amount, rounded to the nearest multiple of five cents (5¢),
shall be determined by the secretary. The secretary shall,
within ten days following the determination, transmit a notice
of the determination to the Legislative Reference Bureau for
publication in the next available issue of the Pennsylvania
Bulletin.
* * *
(e) In lieu of the minimum wage prescribed in subsection (a)
[and section 5(c)] and notwithstanding subsections (b) and (d),
an employer may, during the first sixty calendar days when an
employe under the age of twenty years is initially employed, pay
the employe training wages at a rate of not less than the
minimum wage set forth in section 6(a) of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (29 U.S.C. § 206(a)). A person employed at the
training wage under this subsection shall be informed of the
amount of the training wage and the right to receive the full
minimum wage, or a higher wage, upon completion of the training
period. No employer may take any action to displace existing
employes, including partial displacements such as reduction in
the hours, wages or employment benefits of existing employes,
for purposes of hiring individuals at the training wage
authorized by this subsection.
Section 5. Exemptions.--* * *
[(c) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4(a)(7)
and (8), an employer unless otherwise exempt from the minimum
wage provisions of section 4(a)(6) whose employe complement is
composed of the equivalent of ten or less full-time employes to
be calculated on a forty-hour workweek shall pay:
(i) Five dollars sixty-five cents ($5.65) an hour beginning
January 1, 2007.
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(ii) Six dollars sixty-five cents ($6.65) an hour beginning
July 1, 2007.
(2) Such employer shall pay the full amount of the minimum
wage under section 4(a)(8) beginning July 1, 2008.]
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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