Nebraska 2009 Minimum Wage Increase

The Nebraska minimum wage will increase from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. This is the same day as an increase to the federal minimum wage under the FLSA.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to employers who engage in interstate commerce, or who earn at least $500,000 per year. FLSA may also individual workers who are engaged in interstate commerce, even when the federal law does not apply to the entire business.

Federal, state and local government agencies are covered under FLSA, as are schools, hospitals and health care facilities. The U. S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, www.dol.gov, enforces the FLSA.

In this struggling economy, an increase in the minimum wage could be a hardship to employers. The increase in 2009 is the last scheduled increase for at least a year. At present there is no federal minimum wage increase scheduled for 2010.

Many employers in Nebraska are covered by the FLSA. Those that do not fall under federal jurisdiction are covered by the Nebraska state minimum wage laws.

The Nebraska minimum wage mirrors the federal minimum. When the federal rate increases the Nebraska rate increases, too. This means that on July 24, 2009, when the federal minimum is raised to $7.25 per hour, the Nebraska state minimum will increase to the same rate.

Nebraska state minimum wage law and FLSA mandate that companies pay overtime for any time over 40 hours in one work week. The rate for overtime pay is 1.5 times the employee’s usual hourly rate.

Federal and state minimum wage laws allow businesses to pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage. Some tipped employees, such as food servers may be paid as low as $2.13 per hour. If, however, the employee doesn’t earn an average of $5.12 per hour in tips, the employer must pay the difference.