BILL REQ. #:  S-1591.1 

Read first time 02/21/11.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     AN ACT Relating to adjusting the minimum wage rate based on changes in consumer prices; and amending RCW 49.46.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 49.46.020 and 1999 c 1 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Until January 1, 1999, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than four dollars and ninety cents per hour.
     (2) Beginning January 1, 1999, and until January 1, 2000, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than five dollars and seventy cents per hour.
     (3) Beginning January 1, 2000, and until January 1, 2001, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than six dollars and fifty cents per hour.
     (4)(a) Beginning on January 1, 2001, and each following January 1st as set forth under (b) of this subsection, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than the amount established under (b) of this subsection.
     (b) On September 30, 2000, and on each following September 30th, the department of labor and industries shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, ((for the twelve months prior to)) each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. Beginning September 30, 2011, calculations of the adjusted minimum wage rate shall reflect the actual change in consumer prices since September 1, 2000, based on the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers or a successor index. Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this subsection (4)(b) takes effect on the following January 1st.
     (5) The director shall by ((regulation)) rule establish the minimum wage for employees under the age of eighteen years.