Pay Workers a Living Wage Act

Summary: Pay Workers a Living Wage Act This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to: (1) $9.00 an hour on January 1, 2016, or, if later, on the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act; (2) $10.50 an hour after one year; (3) $12.00 an hour after two years; (4) $13.50 an hour after three years; (5) $15.00 an hour after four years; and (6) the amount the Department of Labor determines (based on increases in the median hourly wage of all employees) after five years, and annually thereafter. The federal minimum wage for tipped employees shall increase to $3.15 an hour for one year on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month after enactment of this Act, whichever is later. Subsequent annual adjustments of the wage increase, according to a specified formula, shall ensure that it remains equal to the wage in effect under FLSA for other employees. Employers must notify their employees of the right to retain any received tips. The separate minimum wage requirements for tipped employees shall end, effective one day after the hourly wage established for them under this Act takes effect.  Any employer may pay any newly hired employee under age 20, during the first 90 consecutive days after initial employment, a wage at a rate (currently $4.25 per hour) that is not less than the standard minimum rate, reduced by $3.00 per hour.  The Secretary must publish the amount of any upwardly adjusted required wage in the Federal Register and on the Department of Labor's website 60 days before it takes effect.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pay Workers a Living Wage Act''.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES.

    (a) Minimum Wage.--
            (1) In general.--Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 
        Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to read 
        as follows:
            ``(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not 
        less than--
                    ``(A) $9.00 an hour, beginning on January 1, 2016, 
                or the first day of the third month that begins after 
                the date of enactment of the Pay Workers a Living Wage 
                Act, whichever date is later;
                    ``(B) $10.50 an hour, beginning 1 year after the 
                date the wage specified in subparagraph (A) takes 
                effect;
                    ``(C) $12.00 an hour, beginning 2 years after such 
                date;
                    ``(D) $13.50 an hour, beginning 3 years after such 
                date;
                    ``(E) $15.00 an hour, beginning 4 years after such 
                date; and
                    ``(F) beginning on the date that is 5 years after 
                such date, and annually thereafter, the amount 
                determined by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 
                (h);''.
            (2) Determination based on increase in the median hourly 
        wage of all employees.--Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards 
        Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
    ``(h)(1) Each year, by not later than the date that is 90 days 
before a new minimum wage determined under subsection (a)(1)(F) is to 
take effect, the Secretary shall determine the minimum wage to be in 
effect pursuant to this subsection for each period described in 
subsection (a)(1)(F). The wage determined pursuant to this subsection 
for a year shall be--
            ``(A) not less than the amount in effect under subsection 
        (a)(1) on the date of such determination;
            ``(B) increased from such amount by the annual percentage 
        increase in the median hourly wage of all employees, as 
        determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
            ``(C) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05.
    ``(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in the median 
hourly wage of all employees for purposes of paragraph (1)(B), the 
Secretary through the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall compile data on 
the hourly wages of all employees to determine such a median hourly 
wage and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent year for 
which data are available with the median hourly wage determined for the 
preceding year.''.
    (b) Base Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees.--Section 3(m)(1) of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(1)) is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(1) the cash wage paid such employee, which for purposes 
        of such determination shall be not less than--
                    ``(A) for the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 
                2016, or the first day of the third month that begins 
                after the date of enactment of the Pay Workers a Living 
                Wage Act, whichever date is later, $3.15 an hour;
                    ``(B) for each succeeding 1-year period until the 
                hourly wage under this paragraph equals the wage in 
                effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, an hourly 
                wage equal to the amount determined under this 
                paragraph for the preceding year, increased by the 
                lesser of--
                            ``(i) $1.50; or
                            ``(ii) the amount necessary for the wage in 
                        effect under this paragraph to equal the wage 
                        in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such 
                        period, rounded to the nearest multiple of 
                        $0.05; and
                    ``(C) for each succeeding 1-year period after the 
                year in which the hourly wage under this paragraph 
                first equals the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) 
                for the same period, the amount necessary to ensure 
                that the wage in effect under this paragraph remains 
                equal to the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1), 
                rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05; and''.
    (c) Tips Retained by Employees.--Section 3(m) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)) is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence of the matter following 
        paragraph (2), by striking ``of this subsection, and all tips 
        received by such employee have been retained by the employee'' 
        and inserting ``of this subsection. Any employee shall have the 
        right to retain any tips received by such employee''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``An employer shall 
        inform each employee of the right and exception provided under 
        the preceding sentence.''.
    (d) Scheduled Repeal of Separate Minimum Wage for Tipped 
Employees.--
            (1) Tipped employees.--Effective on the date described in 
        paragraph (3), section 3(m) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
        1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)), as amended by subsections (b) and (c), 
        is amended by striking the sentence beginning with ``In 
        determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped 
        employee,'' and all that follows through ``of this 
        subsection.'' and inserting ``The wage required to be paid to a 
        tipped employee shall be the wage set forth in section 
        6(a)(1).''.
            (2) Publication of notice.--Effective on the date described 
        in paragraph (3), section 6(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
        of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(i)), as added by subsection (e), is 
        amended by striking ``or required for tipped employees'' and 
        all that follows through ``(as applicable)''.
            (3) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraphs (1) 
        and (2) shall take effect on the date that is one day after the 
        date on which the hourly wage under section 3(m)(1)(C) of the 
        Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(1)(C)) takes 
        effect.
    (e) Youth Minimum Wage.--Section (6)(g)(1) of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``a 
wage which is not less than $4.25 an hour'' and inserting ``a wage at a 
rate that is not less than the rate prescribed by subsection (a)(1), 
reduced by $3.00 per hour''.
    (f) Publication of Notice.--Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (as amended by subsections (a) and (e)) (29 U.S.C. 206) is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i)(1) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date of any 
adjusted required wage, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 
Register and on the website of the Department of Labor a notice 
announcing the amount of the adjusted required wage.
    ``(2) In this subsection, the term `adjusted required wage' means 
any increase in the minimum wage that is--
            ``(A) determined under subsection (h);
            ``(B) required for tipped employees in accordance with 
        subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 3(m)(1) (as applicable); or
            ``(C) required for employees who have not attained the age 
        of 20 years in accordance with subsection (g).''.
    (g) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsections (a), (b), 
and (e) shall take effect on January 1, 2016, or the first day of the 
third month that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, 
whichever date is later.