Raise the Wage Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 53 To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 26, 2021 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEIN- STEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. PETERS, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for increases in the Federal minimum wage, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Raise the Wage Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 53 IS SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor 2 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sec- 5 tion, not less than— 6 ‘‘(A) $9.50 an hour, beginning on the ef- 7 fective date under section 7 of the Raise the 8 Wage Act of 2021; 9 ‘‘(B) $11.00 an hour, beginning 1 year 10 after such effective date; 11 ‘‘(C) $12.50 an hour, beginning 2 years 12 after such effective date; 13 ‘‘(D) $14.00 an hour, beginning 3 years 14 after such effective date; 15 ‘‘(E) $15.00 an hour, beginning 4 years 16 after such effective date; and 17 ‘‘(F) beginning on the date that is 5 years 18 after such effective date, and annually there- 19 after, the amount determined by the Secretary 20 under subsection (h);’’. 21 (b) DETERMINATION BASED ON INCREASE IN THE 22 MEDIAN HOURLY WAGE OF ALL EMPLOYEES.—Section 23 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 24 206) is amended by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 53 IS ‘‘(h)(1) Not later than each date that is 90 days be- 1 fore a new minimum wage determined under subsection 2 (a)(1)(F) is to take effect, the Secretary shall determine 3 the minimum wage to be in effect under this subsection 4 for each period described in subsection (a)(1)(F). The 5 wage determined under this subsection for a year shall 6 be— 7 ‘‘(A) not less than the amount in effect under 8 subsection (a)(1) on the date of such determination; 9 ‘‘(B) increased from such amount by the annual 10 percentage increase, if any, in the median hourly 11 wage of all employees as determined by the Bureau 12 of Labor Statistics; and 13 ‘‘(C) rounded up to the nearest multiple of 14 $0.05. 15 ‘‘(2) In calculating the annual percentage increase in 16 the median hourly wage of all employees for purposes of 17 paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary, through the Bureau of 18 Labor Statistics, shall compile data on the hourly wages 19 of all employees to determine such a median hourly wage 20 and compare such median hourly wage for the most recent 21 year for which data are available with the median hourly 22 wage determined for the preceding year.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 53 IS SEC. 3. TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 1 (a) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES 2 AND TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 4 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)) is amended to read as fol- 5 lows: 6 ‘‘(i) the cash wage paid such employee, which 7 for purposes of such determination shall be not less 8 than— 9 ‘‘(I) for the 1-year period beginning on the 10 effective date under section 7 of the Raise the 11 Wage Act of 2021, $4.95 an hour; 12 ‘‘(II) for each succeeding 1-year period 13 until the hourly wage under this clause equals 14 the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) for 15 such period, an hourly wage equal to the 16 amount determined under this clause for the 17 preceding year, increased by the lesser of— 18 ‘‘(aa) $2.00; or 19 ‘‘(bb) the amount necessary for the 20 wage in effect under this clause to equal 21 the wage in effect under section 6(a)(1) for 22 such period, rounded up to the nearest 23 multiple of $0.05; and 24 ‘‘(III) for each succeeding 1-year period 25 after the increase made pursuant to subclause 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 53 IS (II), the minimum wage in effect under section 1 6(a)(1); and’’. 2 (b) TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 3 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 4 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is amended— 5 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol- 6 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘of this subsection, 7 and all tips received by such employee have been re- 8 tained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of this sub- 9 section. Any employee shall have the right to retain 10 any tips received by such employee’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em- 12 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 13 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 14 (c) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM 15 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 16 (1) TIPPED EMPLOYEES.—Section 3(m)(2)(A) 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 18 203(m)(2)(A)), as amended by subsections (a) and 19 (b), is further amended by striking the sentence be- 20 ginning with ‘‘In determining the wage an employer 21 is required to pay a tipped employee,’’ and all that 22 follows through ‘‘of this subsection.’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘The wage required to be paid to a tipped employee 24 shall be the wage set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 53 IS (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Subsection (i) 1 of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 2 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by section 5, is 3 further amended by striking ‘‘or in accordance with 4 subclause (II) or (III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i)’’. 5 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 6 by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the 7 date that is 1 day after the date on which the hourly 8 wage under subclause (III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i) 9 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 10 203(m)(2)(A)(i)), as amended by subsection (a), 11 takes effect. 12 (d) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of the Fair Labor 13 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended— 14 (1) in the third sentence of subsection (b), by 15 inserting ‘‘or used’’ after ‘‘kept’’; and 16 (2) in the second sentence of subsection (e)(2), 17 by inserting ‘‘or used’’ after ‘‘kept’’. 18 SEC. 4. NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 19 YEARS OLD. 20 (a) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EM- 21 PLOYEES WHO ARE LESS THAN 20 YEARS OLD.—Section 22 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 23 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘a wage which 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 53 IS is not less than $4.25 an hour.’’ and inserting the fol- 1 lowing: ‘‘a wage at a rate that is not less than— 2 ‘‘(A) for the 1-year period beginning on the ef- 3 fective date under section 7 of the Raise the Wage 4 Act of 2021, $6.00 an hour; 5 ‘‘(B) for each succeeding 1-year period until the 6 hourly wage under this paragraph equals the wage 7 in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, an 8 hourly wage equal to the amount determined under 9 this paragraph for the preceding year, increased by 10 the lesser of— 11 ‘‘(i) $1.75; or 12 ‘‘(ii) the amount necessary for the wage in 13 effect under this paragraph to equal the wage 14 in effect under section 6(a)(1) for such period, 15 rounded up to the nearest multiple of $0.05; 16 and 17 ‘‘(C) for each succeeding 1-year period after the 18 increase made pursuant to subparagraph (B)(ii), the 19 minimum wage in effect under section 6(a)(1).’’. 20 (b) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM 21 WAGE FOR NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES WHO ARE LESS 22 THAN 20 YEARS OLD.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 53 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(g) of the Fair 1 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)), as 2 amended by subsection (a), shall be repealed. 3 (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Subsection (i) 4 of section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 5 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by section 6 3(c)(2), is further amended by striking ‘‘or subpara- 7 graph (B) or (C) of subsection (g)(1),’’. 8 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal and amend- 9 ment made by paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, 10 shall take effect on the date that is 1 day after the 11 date on which the hourly wage under subparagraph 12 (C) of section 6(g)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards 13 Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(g)(1)), as amended by 14 subsection (a), takes effect. 15 SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF NOTICE. 16 Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 17 (29 U.S.C. 206), as amended by the preceding sections, 18 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(i) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date 20 of any increase in the required wage determined under 21 subsection (a)(1) or subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 22 (g)(1), or in accordance with subclause (II) or (III) of sec- 23 tion 3(m)(2)(A)(i) or section 14(c)(1)(A), the Secretary 24 shall publish in the Federal Register and on the website 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 53 IS of the Department of Labor a notice announcing each in- 1 crease in such required wage.’’. 2 SEC. 6. PROMOTING ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR IN- 3 DIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 4 (a) WAGES.— 5 (1) TRANSITION TO FAIR WAGES FOR INDIVID- 6 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Subparagraph (A) of 7 section 14(c)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 8 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)(1)) is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(A) at a rate that equals or exceeds, for each 11 year, the greater of— 12 ‘‘(i)(I) $5.00 an hour, beginning on the ef- 13 fective date under section 7 of the Raise the 14 Wage Act of 2021; 15 ‘‘(II) $7.50 an hour, beginning 1 year 16 after such effective date; 17 ‘‘(III) $10.00 an hour, beginning 2 years 18 after such effective date; 19 ‘‘(IV) $12.50 an hour, beginning 3 years 20 after such effective date; 21 ‘‘(V) $15.00 an hour, beginning 4 years 22 after such effective date; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 53 IS ‘‘(VI) the wage rate in effect under section 1 6(a)(1), beginning 5 years after such effective 2 date; or 3 ‘‘(ii) if applicable, the wage rate in effect 4 on the day before the date of enactment of the 5 Raise the Wage Act of 2021 for the employ- 6 ment, under a special certificate issued under 7 this paragraph, of the individual for whom the 8 wage rate is being determined under this sub- 9 paragraph,’’. 10 (2) PROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI- 11 CATES; SUNSET.—Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor 12 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)) (as 13 amended by paragraph (1)) is further amended by 14 adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITION ON NEW SPECIAL CERTIFI- 16 CATES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Sec- 17 retary shall not issue a special certificate under this 18 subsection to an employer that was not issued a spe- 19 cial certificate under this subsection before the date 20 of enactment of the Raise the Wage Act of 2021. 21 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—Beginning on the day after the 22 date on which the wage rate described in paragraph 23 (1)(A)(i)(VI) takes effect, the authority to issue spe- 24 cial certificates under paragraph (1) shall expire, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 53 IS and no special certificates issued under paragraph 1 (1) shall have any legal effect. 2 ‘‘(8) TRANSITION ASSISTANCE.—Upon request, 3 the Secretary shall provide— 4 ‘‘(A) technical assistance and information 5 to employers issued a special certificate under 6 this subsection for the purposes of— 7 ‘‘(i) assisting such employers to com- 8 ply with this subsection, as amended by 9 the Raise the Wage Act of 2021; and 10 ‘‘(ii) ensuring continuing employment 11 opportunities for individuals with disabil- 12 ities receiving a special minimum wage 13 rate under this subsection; and 14 ‘‘(B) information to individuals employed 15 at a special minimum wage rate under this sub- 16 section, which may include referrals to Federal 17 or State entities with expertise in competitive 18 integrated employment.’’. 19 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 20 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of en- 21 actment of this Act. 22 (b) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.— 23 (1) AMENDMENT.—Subsection (i) of section 6 24 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 53 IS 206), as amended by section 4(b)(2), is further 1 amended by striking ‘‘or section 14(c)(1)(A),’’. 2 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 3 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the day after 4 the date on which the wage rate described in para- 5 graph (1)(A)(i)(VI) of section 14(c) of the Fair 6 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 214(c)), as 7 amended by subsection (a)(1), takes effect. 8 SEC. 7. GENERAL EFFECTIVE DATE. 9 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, or the 10 amendments made by this Act, this Act and the amend- 11 ments made by this Act shall take effect on the first day 12 of the third month that begins after the date of the enact- 13 ment of this Act. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S53.IS S53 kjohnson on DSK79L0 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]