Minimum Wage

MINIMUM WAGE

The minimum wage has been a cutting edge labor law topic among employers and employees. There was no national minimum wage or any legislation to protect workers from the exploitation before the Great Depression o the 1930’s. This caused thousands of workers to be exploited in sweatshops and factories, forced to work for pennies a week. It was not until 1936 when President Roosevelt won the presidential election, the regulations to protect American workers from being exploited was created. It became into law and was called Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This law created a mandatory federal minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being. Today the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The Mississippi minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This is the same as the current national minimum wage. There is no state minimum wage law in Mississippi, so the Federal Minimum Wage takes precedent. There are certain occupations and employees that are exempt from Mississippi and Federal Minimum Wage regulations. These include tipped workers, students in high school and college, and certain disabled workers. Full time minimum wage workers in Mississippi earn a total of $290 per week. The overtime minimum wage in Mississippi is $10.88 per hour. Independent contractors, seasonal workers, and some farm workers are exempt from overtime law. I have never worked a minimum wage job. But because my hours at my current job were reduced to 32 hours a weeks, I feel as though I am working a minimum wage job. It is for this reason that I decided to return to school. I have a degree in Office Technology, but I always wanted to pursue a career in Medical Billing and Coding. Being a single parent I need a career and not a job, and that is what I feel that I have been working for the past couple of years. In my opinion minimum wage should be raised to at $9 per hour to ensure that the employee can provide for their family. The economic...