The Minnesota state House followed the state Senate's lead in passing a
minimum wage increase that includes:
-- Raising minimum wage for businesses with gross sales of more than $500,000 to $8.00 in August 2014, $9.00 in August 2015 and $9.50 in 2016.
-- Raising wage for businesses under $500,000 in gross sales over three years to $7.75 by 2016.
-- Requiring large employers to pay $7.75 by 2016 to workers under age 18, as a 90-day training wage for 18- and 19-year-olds, and to certain international workers at summer resorts.
-- Starting in 2018, increasing wages annually by inflation capped at 2.5 percent.
-- Giving state Department of Labor and Industry commissioner authority to suspend the inflation increase if indicators forecast an economic downturn. Suspended increases could be restored in better economic times.
It's another imperfect minimum wage increase, but more than 350,000 workers should get a raise. Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign the bill Monday.
Continue reading below the fold for more of the week's labor and education news.
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