The minimum wage is the lowest amount of money paid by an employer to their employees. It is the legal requirement, and laborers get paid minimum wage or more than this. The minimum wage legislation was passed in the 20th century and is now a legal requirement in many countries.
In America, the national minimum wage was created in 1938 and is still effective. The current federal required minimum wage is $7.25 per hour of work. But in the United States, different states are allowed to set minimum wage according to their standards.
The states are divided as follows based on their minimum wage regulation:
- The states with higher minimum wage than federal’s required minimum wage
- States that have the same statutes of explicitly of the minimum wage as the federal government
- States without any minimum wage standard or statute, these states automatically have the
same minimum wage statute as federal - Those states that have a lower minimum wage than the federal government’s statute, but it is
only applicable for specific jobs
Tennessee is one of those states that does not have any minimum wage statute and has the same minimum wage as the federal one. The minimum wage of Tennessee is $7.25/hr. It applies to all the employees except students, employees that get tipped, and employees working exempt occupations.
There is no particular law for minimum wage in Tennessee, but a promised wage law exists. It states that employers should pay the promised wages to the employees. This law ensures the employees get paid, and the payment is not under $7.25/hr.
Even though there are no plans to implement a state law for minimum wage in Tennessee, some talks are going around. Since January of 2020, the act called the Tennessee Minimum wage act is under discussion. If this act gets approved, the minimum wage of Tennessee will raise to $15/hr.
Although many people would wish that this act passes, there is a long way to happen. If the federal minimum wage goes higher than the minimum wage in states like Tennessee will also rise. As good as it will be for the employees, the business owner might need to make some changes.
A business that must pay Minimum wage
According to the Fair labor standards act, a business with two or more employees and have an annual sale of $500,000 should pay minimum wage. It can be any form of business or labor if the enterprise fulfills the condition the minimum wage statute applies.
The business under this law is individuals or enterprises that the Department of Labor defines as interstate commerce. The legal requirement of paying minimum wage applies to all the business. But some jobs are exempt from getting paid minimum wage.
Exemptions
Minimum wage is a legal requirement, but certain employees get exempted from getting it. Employees like executives, people in administrations, and professionals that work as outside salespersons are exemptions. It is because these employees can bargain their wages and have higher salary requirements.
Some exemptions are also present, in which case the employees get paid more than minimum wage.
These exemptions include students working part-time and employees that get tipped. Sometimes people with disabilities and tipped employees may get a lesser amount of money than minimum wages.
In case The Tennessee minimum wage act passes, there are some things you need to look out for as a business owner. Other than the exemptions mentioned above, you will need to reevaluate your staff and notice which employees get paid weekly or monthly.
Another thing you need to do is to hire the best employees that give maximum output worth the wage.
Small businesses try to recruit employees with good potential. It would help if you had a good team and perfect management to ensure that your business prospers in any case.
Many families live under the poverty line in Tennessee, as the average wage is just a little more than the minimum wage. The average wage is about $14.84 per adult, which is the living wage. If the labor wage or minimum wage increases, the poverty line people will get a huge benefit.
Tennessee’s minimum wage is the same as the federal government’s, but there will be a significant rise if the act passes. The change is not supposed to happen incrementally, but at once, that will help families struggling.
Lisa is a passionate travelers. She spends 3 months every year visiting different places worldwide. She has visited almost every famous place in the world. She herself is an affiliate blogger
Leave a Reply