Mass. minimum wage will rise to $9 an hour Thursday
On Jan. 1, the first of three annual $1 increases in the minimum hourly wage will grant some of the state's lowest paid workers a government-mandated 12.5-percent raise.
The current minimum wage is $8 per hour, and the increase to $9 in 2015 is expected to have some ripple effects on those just above that rate. On the Associated Industries of Massachusetts blog, Senior Vice President of Management and HR Services Karen Choi wrote that the increase will cause employers to give pay bumps to those who "earn slightly more than minimum," and said "human resource professionals are scrambling to develop multi-year approaches to the minimum wage that will require both actual paid rates and salary ranges to be adjusted."
Additional $1 increases will follow on Jan. 1, 2016 and Jan. 1, 2017 when the minimum wage will reach $11. The Legislature passed the bill this summer, ending a campaign that had aimed to put the question before Bay State voters. The increase will be joined by a drop in the income tax rate from 5.2 percent to 5.15 percent.
The Massachusetts Retailers Association and others argued the wage increase would hurt employment and make the state less business-friendly.
The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimates the first increase will affect 280,000 workers who make less than or just above $9 per hour, and the law will eventually raise the wages of 605,000 workers. State officials were unable to say whether any state government workers or contractors make the minimum wage.
Yet, some activists are mobilizing for further wage increases, arguing that fast-food employers around the country should pay their workers $15 per hour. President Barack Obama has advocated raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10.
The last Massachusetts minimum wage increase took effect Jan. 1, 2008 when it rose from $7.50 to $8. According to the Office of Labor and Workforce Development, the three-year average hourly wage in Massachusetts was $27.12 and the median hourly wage $21.07.
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