On May 25, 2007 President Bush signed legislation (H.R. 2206) that included increasing the federal minimum wage for the first time since 1997. The Act, referred to as the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 contains the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (Title VIII, Subtitle A) and the Small Business and Work Opportunity Tax Act of 2007 (Title VIII, Subtitle B).
The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 increases the federal minimum wage rate to:
- $5.85, effective 60 days after the date of enactment (i.e., July 24, 2007)
- $6.55, effective 12 months after the 60th day (i.e., July 24, 2008)
- $7.25, effective 24 months after that 60th day (i.e., July 24, 2009)
This is NOT an optional wage if a public library has any staff currently employed making less than $5.85 per hour. No delays, no loopholes- new hourly rate takes effect on July 24th.
So how does this impact you? Two ways come to mind–
1) 2008 Budget — the same people making $5.85 in January 2008 will be making $6.55 per hour for any days worked after July 23rd.
2) August 2007 paychecks for those with the change in wage. The employee would be paid the existing rate of pay for hours worked July 1 through July 23rd, and the new minimum wage for the hours starting on July 24th.
Please feel free to call (888-296-6963) or e-mail me (ldebaun@nekls.org) if you have any questions.
Liz Rea is the Network Administrator at NEKLS. You can reach her by email (lrea (at) nekls.org), phone, or on several instant messaging platforms (look Liz up by her email address). Visit the 
