Under state law, the Delaware minimum wage increases automatically if the federal minimum wage is higher. On July 24, 2009 when the federal minimum wage increased, the Delaware minimum wage went from $7.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour.
This makes it critical for Delaware employers to display an updated minimum wage poster.
According to the Delaware Department of Labor, many employers in the state are covered by federal minimum wage law. Many employers in Delaware were affected by the July 24, 2009 increase of the federal minimum wage.
The FLSA or Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is the law relevant to the federal minimum and applies to businesses with annual revenue of $500,000 or more, and to companies and individual employees engaged in interstate commerce.
Interstate commerce includes:
· Accepting or sorting mail from out-of-state
· Receiving goods from out-of-state vendors
· Buying from out-of-state vendors
· Accepting long-distance phone calls
· Accepting credit card or debit card payments
· Accepting out-of-state checks
· Using the Internet, a website or email
A company that does not buy or sell goods out-of-state can still have several workers who engage in interstate commerce on a regular basis. Consider a small hair salon with annual revenue of less than $500,000. This salon serves local customers and buys its supplies locally. If the receptionist accepts credit cards or debit cards for payment, though, he or she is engaged in interstate commerce. Employees who don’t accept payments, such as the “shampoo girl” are not engaged in interstate commerce.
The receptionist would be entitled to the federal minimum wage. The shampoo girl would be eligible only for the Delaware state minimum wage.
The July 24, 2009 increase to the federal minimum wage was the third and last of a series of increases provided by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. In 2006, prior to the enactment of the FMWA, the federal minimum wage was $5.15 per hour and had less purchasing power than the federal minimum of $1.60 in the 1960s.
