$11th-hour raise is here
FAST-FOOD workers are gearing up for a $2 raise that will bring their pay to $11 an hour just before the year ends.
New York will get a jump on most of the country with raises that go into effect Saturday. And by the time the ball drops in Times Square to usher in the new year, another 18 states will begin putting more money in people’s paychecks.
“No one who works full-time should be condemned to a life of poverty, and that’s why New York took action to raise the wage and provide the opportunity of a decent life to millions of hardworking New Yorkers,” said Gov. Cuomo, who signed landmark legislation in April that will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15
“As we reach this milestone for a more fair and a more just New York, we are reminding workers they are owed a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, and this administration will work to ensure they receive the wage increase to which they are entitled.”
Cuomo announced a publicservice campaign to instruct New Yorkers on the steps they should take if they don’t get their raises.
The state Labor Department has also established a hotline, (888) 469-7365 (4NY-SDOL), where minimum-wage workers can report employers who don’t comply with the raise schedule.
The minimum wage in New York is being phased in according to location and company size.
The average raise will be about $5,000 a year once it’s fully phased in, said Paul Sonn, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project.
For New York City employees of companies with 11 or more workers, wages will rise to $11 by Saturday, then another $2 an hour for the next two years, reaching $15 at the end of 2018.
For people employed by city small businesses (those with 10 employees or fewer), the minimum wage will rise to $10.50 an hour by Saturday, then another $1.50 in each of the next three years, reaching $15 at the end of 2019.
State officials estimate more than 2 million people will be affected by the wage increase, including more than 800,000 workers in New York City.