II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1832 

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pay Workers a Living 

5 Wage Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES. 

7 (a) MINIMUM WAGE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair 

9 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) 

10 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec2 tion, not less than— 

3 ‘‘(A) $9.00 an hour, beginning on January 

4 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month 

5 that begins after the date of enactment of the 

6 Pay Workers a Living Wage Act, whichever 

7 date is later; 

8 ‘‘(B) $10.50 an hour, beginning 1 year 

9 after the date the wage specified in subpara10 graph (A) takes effect; 

11 ‘‘(C) $12.00 an hour, beginning 2 years 

12 after such date; 

13 ‘‘(D) $13.50 an hour, beginning 3 years 

14 after such date; 

15 ‘‘(E) $15.00 an hour, beginning 4 years 

16 after such date; and 

17 ‘‘(F) beginning on the date that is 5 years 

18 after such date, and annually thereafter, the 

19 amount determined by the Secretary pursuant 

20 to subsection (h);’’. 

21 (2) DETERMINATION BASED ON INCREASE IN

22 THE MEDIAN HOURLY WAGE OF ALL EMPLOYEES.— 

23 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

24 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(h)(1) Each year, by not later than the date that 

2 is 90 days before a new minimum wage determined under 

3 subsection (a)(1)(F) is to take effect, the Secretary shall 

4 determine the minimum wage to be in effect pursuant to 

5 this subsection for each period described in subsection 

6 (a)(1)(F). The wage determined pursuant to this sub7 section for a year shall be— 

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

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

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

11 percentage increase in the median hourly wage of all 

12 employees, as determined by the Bureau of Labor 

13 Statistics; and 

14 ‘‘(C) rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05. 

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

16 the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 

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

18 Labor Statistics shall compile data on the hourly wages 

19 of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 

20 and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 

21 year for which data are available with the median hourly 

22 wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 

23 (b) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOY24 EES.—Section 3(m)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 


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1 of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(1)) is amended to read as fol2 lows: 

3 ‘‘(1) the cash wage paid such employee, which 

4 for purposes of such determination shall be not less 

5 than— 

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

7 January 1, 2016, or the first day of the third 

8 month that begins after the date of enactment 

9 of the Pay Workers a Living Wage Act, which10 ever date is later, $3.15 an hour; 

11 ‘‘(B) for each succeeding 1-year period 

12 until the hourly wage under this paragraph 

13 equals the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) 

14 for such period, an hourly wage equal to the 

15 amount determined under this paragraph for 

16 the preceding year, increased by the lesser of— 

17 ‘‘(i) $1.50; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the 

19 wage in effect under this paragraph to 

20 equal the wage in effect under section 

21 6(a)(1) for such period, rounded to the 

22 nearest multiple of $0.05; and 

23 ‘‘(C) for each succeeding 1-year period 

24 after the year in which the hourly wage under 

25 this paragraph first equals the wage in effect 


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1 under section 6(a)(1) for the same period, the 

2 amount necessary to ensure that the wage in ef3 fect under this paragraph remains equal to the 

4 wage in effect under section 6(a)(1), rounded to 

5 the nearest multiple of $0.05; and’’. 

6 (c) TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3(m) 

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

8 203(m)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol10 lowing paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of this sub11 section, and all tips received by such employee have 

12 been retained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of 

13 this subsection. Any employee shall have the right to 

14 retain any tips received by such employee’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em16 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 

17 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 

18 (d) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM

19 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 

20 (1) TIPPED EMPLOYEES.—Effective on the date 

21 described in paragraph (3), section 3(m) of the Fair 

22 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)), 

23 as amended by subsections (b) and (c), is amended 

24 by striking the sentence beginning with ‘‘In deter25 mining the wage an employer is required to pay a 


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1 tipped employee,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘of 

2 this subsection.’’ and inserting ‘‘The wage required 

3 to be paid to a tipped employee shall be the wage 

4 set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 

5 (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Effective on the 

6 date described in paragraph (3), section 6(i)(2) of 

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

8 206(i)(2)), as added by subsection (f), is amended— 

9 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

10 after the semicolon; 

11 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

12 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

13 subparagraph (B). 

14 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

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

16 date that is one day after the date on which the 

17 hourly wage under section 3(m)(1)(C) of the Fair 

18 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

19 203(m)(1)(C)) takes effect. 

20 (e) YOUTH MINIMUM WAGE.—Section (6)(g)(1) of 

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

22 206(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘a wage which is not 

23 less than $4.25 an hour’’ and inserting ‘‘a wage at a rate 

24 that is not less than the rate prescribed by subsection 

25 (a)(1), reduced by $3.00 per hour’’. 


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1 (f) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Section 6 of the Fair 

2 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (as amended by subsections 

3 (a) and (e)) (29 U.S.C. 206) is further amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(i)(1) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective 

6 date of any adjusted required wage, the Secretary shall 

7 publish in the Federal Register and on the website of the 

8 Department of Labor a notice announcing the amount of 

9 the adjusted required wage. 

10 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘adjusted required 

11 wage’ means any increase in the minimum wage that is— 

12 ‘‘(A) determined under subsection (h); 

13 ‘‘(B) required for tipped employees in accord14 ance with subparagraph (B) or (C) of section 

15 3(m)(1) (as applicable); or 

16 ‘‘(C) required for employees who have not at17 tained the age of 20 years in accordance with sub18 section (g).’’. 

19 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 subsections (a), (b), and (f) shall take effect on January 

21 1, 2016, or the first day of the third month that begins 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever date 

23 is later. 

Æ 


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