$15 minimum wage set for county employees
All Shelby County employees, including temp workers, will be paid at least $15 an hour after a resolution proposed by county Mayor Lee Harris was approved by the Shelby County Commission.
Under the new initiative, 340 active county employees will see their pay increase by Jan. 1. This includes all law clerks, custodial workers and secretarial staff.
The pay increase does not require an amendment to the current budget, but will draw on current resources instead.
In a statement, Harris spoke to the importance of the resolution applying to temporary workers.
“The same reasons used to lift the wages for the full-time workers can be applied to our temporary employees,” Harris said. “This is an impor-
tant statement of commitment to pay our employees, even those who are not full-time.”
The Memorandum of Understanding sent out by Harris’ team says the pay increase shall remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2019, or when the county’s living wage equals or exceeds $15 an hour, whichever is sooner.
Harris began circulating the memorandum a month ago shortly after his election.
Currently, the county’s living wage is set at $14.48 an hour, according to the memorandum.
The pay increase amounts to a 50cent raise for Felisa Jones, a temporary clerical specialist with the county.
Jones, the single mother of a high school student and a fifth-grader, said the $15-per-hour pay rate would mean a lot for the care of her active kids.
“Being a single mom, $15 helps a lot in my household,” Jones said in an Instagram post shared by Harris.
The initiative gained support from 16 elected county officials and county commissioners. Harris also acknowledges that the initiative is a continuation of work started by former Shelby County mayor Mark Luttrell’s administration.
The city of Memphis has seen numerous public demonstrations in support of a $15 an hour minimum wage in the past few years as the Fight for $15 movement gained momentum across the country.
Marches advocating for the $15 an hour living wage have taken place in Memphis as recently as February this year.
Exiting Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dorsey Hopson announced in March that the school system would raise minimum pay to $15 an hour for all full-time employees.