[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44906-44909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-19166]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Wage and Hour Division


Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors, Notice of Rate 
Change in Effect as of January 1, 2019

AGENCY: Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of 
Labor (the Department) is issuing this notice to announce the 
applicable minimum wage rate for workers performing work on or in 
connection with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658, 
beginning January 1, 2019.
    Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors 
(the Executive Order or the Order), was signed on February 12, 2014, 
and raised the hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on or in 
connection with covered federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, beginning 
January 1, 2015, with annual adjustments thereafter as determined by 
the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) in accordance with the 
methodology set forth in the Order. The Secretary's determination of 
the Executive Order minimum wage rate also affects the minimum hourly 
cash wage for tipped employees performing work on or in connection with 
covered contracts. The Secretary is required to provide notice to the 
public of the new minimum wage rate at least 90 days before the rate 
takes effect. The applicable minimum wage under the Executive Order is 
currently $10.35 per hour, in effect since January 1, 2018.
    Pursuant to the Executive Order and its implementing regulations in 
the Code of Federal Regulations, notice is hereby given that beginning 
January 1, 2019, the Executive Order minimum wage rate that generally 
must be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with 
covered contracts will increase to $10.60 per hour. Notice is also 
hereby given that, beginning January 1, 2019, the required minimum cash 
wage that generally must be paid to tipped employees performing work on 
or in connection with covered contracts will increase to $7.40 per 
hour.

DATES: These new rates shall take effect on January 1, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Melissa Smith, Director, Division of 
Regulations, Legislation, and Interpretation, Wage and Hour Division, 
U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-3502, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-0406 (this is not a toll-
free number). Copies of this notice may be obtained in alternative 
formats (Large Print, Braille, Audio Tape, or Disc), upon request, by 
calling (202) 693-0023 (not a toll-free number). TTY/TTD callers may 
dial toll-free (877) 889-5627 to obtain information or request 
materials in alternative formats.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Executive Order 13658 Background and Requirements for Determining 
Annual Increases to the Minimum Wage Rate

    The Executive Order was signed on February 12, 2014, and raised the 
hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection 
with covered federal contracts to $10.10 per hour, beginning January 1, 
2015, with annual adjustments thereafter in an amount determined by the 
Secretary pursuant to the Order. See 79 FR 9851. The Executive Order 
directed the Secretary

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to issue regulations to implement the Order's requirements. See 79 FR 
9852. Accordingly, after engaging in notice-and-comment rulemaking, the 
Department published a Final Rule on October 7, 2014 to implement the 
Executive Order. See 79 FR 60634. The final regulations, set forth at 
29 CFR part 10, established standards and procedures for implementing 
and enforcing the minimum wage protections of the Order.
    The Executive Order and its implementing regulations require the 
Secretary to determine the applicable minimum wage rate for workers 
performing work on or in connection with covered contracts on an annual 
basis, beginning January 1, 2016. See 79 FR 9851; 29 CFR 10.1(a)(2), 
10.5(a)(2), 10.12(a). Sections 2(a) and (b) of the Order establish the 
methodology that the Secretary must use to determine the annual 
inflation-based increases to the minimum wage rate. See 79 FR 9851. 
These provisions, which are implemented in 29 CFR 10.5(b), explain that 
the applicable minimum wage determined by the Secretary for each 
calendar year shall be:
    (i) Not less than the amount in effect on the date of such 
determination;
    (ii) Increased from such amount by the annual percentage increase 
in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers 
(CPI-W) (United States city average, all items, not seasonally 
adjusted), or its successor publication, as determined by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics (BLS); and
    (iii) Rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05.
    Section 2(b) of the Executive Order further provides that, in 
calculating the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W for purposes of 
determining the new minimum wage rate, the Secretary shall compare such 
CPI-W for the most recent month, quarter, or year available (as 
selected by the Secretary prior to the first year for which a minimum 
wage is in effect) with the CPI-W for the same month in the preceding 
year, the same quarter in the preceding year, or the preceding year, 
respectively. See 79 FR 9851. To calculate the annual percentage 
increase in the CPI-W, the Department elected in its Final Rule 
implementing the Executive Order to compare such CPI-W for the most 
recent year available with the CPI-W for the preceding year. See 29 CFR 
10.5(b)(2)(iii). In its Final Rule, the Department explained that it 
decided to compare the CPI-W for the most recent year available 
(instead of using the most recent month or quarter, as allowed by the 
Order) with the CPI-W for the preceding year, ``to minimize the impact 
of seasonal fluctuations on the Executive Order minimum wage rate.'' 79 
FR 60666.
    Once a determination has been made with respect to the new minimum 
wage rate, the Executive Order and its implementing regulations require 
the Secretary to notify the public of the applicable minimum wage rate 
on an annual basis at least 90 days before any new minimum wage takes 
effect. See 79 FR 9851; 29 CFR 10.5(a)(2), 10.12(c)(1). The regulations 
explain that the Administrator of the Department's Wage and Hour 
Division (the Administrator) will publish an annual notice in the 
Federal Register stating the applicable minimum wage rate at least 90 
days before any new minimum wage takes effect. See 29 CFR 
10.12(c)(2)(i). Additionally, the regulations state that the 
Administrator will provide notice of the Executive Order minimum wage 
rate on Wage Determinations OnLine (WDOL), http://www.wdol.gov, or any 
successor site; on all wage determinations issued under the Davis-Bacon 
Act (DBA), 40 U.S.C. 3141 et seq., and the Service Contract Act (SCA), 
41 U.S.C. 6701 et seq.; and by other means the Administrator deems 
appropriate. See 29 CFR 10.12(c)(2)(ii)-(iv).
    Section 3 of the Executive Order requires contractors to pay tipped 
employees covered by the Order performing on or in connection with 
covered contracts an hourly cash wage of at least $4.90, beginning on 
January 1, 2015, provided the employees receive sufficient tips to 
equal the Executive Order minimum wage rate under section 2 of the 
Order when combined with the cash wage. See 79 FR 9851-52; 29 CFR 
10.28(a). The Order further provides that, in each succeeding year, 
beginning January 1, 2016, the required cash wage must increase by 
$0.95 (or a lesser amount if necessary) until it reaches 70 percent of 
the Executive Order minimum wage. Id. For subsequent years, the cash 
wage for tipped employees will be 70 percent of the Executive Order 
minimum wage rounded to the nearest $0.05. Id. At all times, the amount 
of tips received by the employee must equal at least the difference 
between the cash wage paid and the Executive Order minimum wage; if the 
employee does not receive sufficient tips, the contractor must increase 
the cash wage paid so that the cash wage in combination with the tips 
received equals the Executive Order minimum wage. Id.
    The Executive Order minimum wage and the cash wage required for 
tipped employees are currently $10.35 and $7.25 per hour, respectively. 
The Department announced these rates on September 15, 2017, 82 FR 
43408, and the rates took effect on January 1, 2018.

II. The 2019 Executive Order Minimum Wage Rate

    Using the methodology set forth in the Executive Order and 
summarized above, the Department must first determine the annual 
percentage increase in the CPI-W (United States city average, all 
items, not seasonally adjusted), as published by BLS, to determine the 
new Executive Order minimum wage rate. In calculating the annual 
percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Department must compare the CPI-W 
for the most recent year available with the CPI-W for the preceding 
year. The Department therefore compares the percentage change in the 
CPI-W between the most recent year (i.e., the most recent four 
quarters) and the prior year (i.e., the four quarters preceding the 
most recent year). The Department then increases the current Executive 
Order minimum wage rate by the resulting annual percentage change and 
rounds to the nearest multiple of $0.05.
    In order to determine the Executive Order minimum wage rate 
beginning January 1, 2019, the Department therefore calculated the CPI-
W for the most recent year by averaging the CPI-W for the four most 
recent quarters, which consist of the first two quarters of 2018 and 
the last two quarters of 2017 (i.e., July 2017 through June 2018). The 
Department then compared that data to the average CPI-W for the 
preceding year, which consists of the first two quarters of 2017 and 
the last two quarters of 2016 (i.e., July 2016 through June 2017). 
Based on this methodology, the Department determined that the annual 
percentage increase in the CPI-W (United States city average, all 
items, not seasonally adjusted) was 2.337 percent. The Department then 
applied that annual percentage increase of 2.337 percent to the current 
Executive Order hourly minimum wage rate of $10.35, which resulted in a 
wage rate of $10.592 (($10.35 x 0.02337) + $10.35); however, pursuant 
to the Executive Order, that rate must be rounded to the nearest 
multiple of $0.05.
    The new Executive Order minimum wage rate that must generally be 
paid to workers performing on or in connection with covered contracts 
beginning January 1, 2019 is therefore $10.60 per hour.

III. The 2019 Executive Order Minimum Cash Wage for Tipped Employees

    As noted above, section 3 of the Executive Order provides a 
methodology to determine the amount

[[Page 44908]]

of the minimum hourly cash wage that must be paid to tipped employees 
performing on or in connection with covered contracts. Because the cash 
wage for tipped employees reached 70 percent of the Executive Order 
minimum wage beginning on January 1, 2018 (i.e., $7.25 per hour 
compared to $10.35 per hour), future updates to the cash wage for 
tipped employees must continue to set the rate at 70 percent of the 
full Executive Order minimum wage. Seventy percent of the new Executive 
Order minimum wage rate of $10.60 is $7.42. Because the Executive Order 
provides that the rate must be rounded to the nearest $0.05, the new 
minimum hourly cash wage for tipped workers performing on or in 
connection with covered contracts beginning January 1, 2019 is 
therefore $7.40 per hour.

IV. Appendices

    Appendix A to this notice provides a comprehensive chart of the 
CPI-W data published by BLS that the Department used to calculate the 
new Executive Order minimum wage rate based on the methodology 
explained herein. Appendix B to this notice sets forth an updated 
version of the Executive Order poster that the Department published 
with its Final Rule, reflecting the updated wage rates that will be in 
effect beginning January 1, 2019. See 79 FR 60732-33. Pursuant to 29 
CFR 10.29, contractors are required to notify all workers performing on 
or in connection with a covered contract of the applicable minimum wage 
rate under the Executive Order. Contractors with employees covered by 
the Fair Labor Standards Act who are performing on or in connection 
with a covered contract may satisfy the notice requirement by 
displaying the poster set forth in Appendix B in a prominent or 
accessible place at the worksite.

    Dated: August, 22, 2018.
Bryan Jarrett,
Acting Administrator, Wage and Hour Division.

Appendix A: Data Used To Determine Executive Order 13658 Minimum Wage 
Rate Effective January 1, 2019

    Data Source: Consumer Price Index for Urban wage Earners and 
Clerical Workers (CPI-W) (United States city average, all items, not 
seasonally adjusted).

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                                                              Quarter 3
                                                              Quarter 4
                                                              Quarter 1
                                                              Quarter 2                Annual
                                                                                      Average
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2016Q3 to 2017Q2.................................    234.771    234.904    235.495    235.732    235.215    235.390    236.854    237.477    237.656    238.432    238.609    238.813   236.6123
2017Q3 to 2018Q2.................................    238.617    239.448    240.939    240.573    240.666    240.526    241.919    242.988    243.463    244.607    245.770    246.196   242.1427
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Annual Percentage Increase.......................  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........  .........     2.337%
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Appendix B: Updated Version of the Executive Order 13658 Poster

BILLING CODE 4510-27-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN04SE18.005

[FR Doc. 2018-19166 Filed 8-31-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-C