Minimum Wage
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage is the lowest pay that an employer may with authorization pay to employees or workers. The minimum wage may be hourly or daily or monthly and most employees are eligible for it irrespective of their being full time, part time or casual employees. The independent body Low Pay Commission recommends the current minimum wage.
Minimum wage laws are not constant throughout the world and vary not only in setting the minimum wage but also the pay period of the employees or workers. This concept first came into scene in the late nineteenth century in Australia and New Zealand and is now enforced in more than ninety percent of the countries. In the United States, the minimum wage was first enforced in 1938 by the Labor’s Employment standards as part of the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA). It is an important part of government strategy in insuring that the employees get acceptable minimum wage and standard at work. The standard rate may be changed by some requirements which are set under “wage orders”. These requirements of minimum wage law include people who work in the hotel, service industry, restaurants and many other industries. Minimum Wage laws helps business as the competing companies compete only on the basis of quality of product and services and not on lower prices due to low rates of wage.
In the beginning with just 25 cents per hour, the minimum wage has since been increased several times. Increase in minimum wage increases the increasing power of an employee and also protects him against employer exploitation.
