SB185 By Senators Coleman-Madison, Beasley and Singleton RFD Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Rd 1 09-FEB-16

SYNOPSIS: Currently, Alabama does not have a state minimum wage law but the federal minimum wage is $7.15 per hour.

This bill would propose a constitutional amendment to establish a state minimum wage of $10 per hour by increasing the existing federal rate in three steps ending January 1, 2018.

This bill would provide that tipped employees' wages may not fall below 30 percent of the minimum wage.

The bill would provide for an increase of the minimum wage commencing on January 1, 2021, and every three years thereafter based on the Consumer Price Index for the July 1st of the year preceding the year of the increase.

The bill would require the Director of Finance to notify the Alabama Department of Labor in writing between October 1 and October 15 each year preceding a wage adjustment of the percentage to be used for the cost-of-living adjustment for the next three calendar years.

This bill would require the Alabama Department of Labor to post any change in the state minimum wage on its website which shall serve as notice to each employer of this state.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Relating to wages; proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to establish a state minimum wage and to provide for an increase based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Alabama as reported by the United States Department of Labor; to provide for tipped employees; to provide that the Consumer Price Index for the July 1st preceding the year of the increase; to require the Director of Finance to notify the Alabama Department of Labor in writing between October 1 and October 15 every three fiscal years of the percentage to be used for the cost-of-living adjustment for the next three calendar years; and to require the Alabama Department of Labor to post any change in the state minimum wage on its website which shall serve as notice to each employer of this state.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, is proposed and shall become valid as a part thereof when approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon and in accordance with Sections 284, 285, and 287 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Section 1. The following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:

(1) EMPLOYEE. An individual employed by an employer.

(2) EMPLOYER. An individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons, acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.

(3) WAGES. Compensation paid to an employee in the form of legal tender of the United States or checks or drafts on banks negotiable into cash on demand or upon acceptance at full value. Wages does not include tips or gratuities of any kind.

(4) TIPPED EMPLOYEE. Any worker who customarily and regularly receives more than thirty dollars ($30) per month in income from gratuities or voluntary monetary contributions received by an employee from a guest, patron, or customer for services rendered to that guest, patron, or customer and that the employee reports to the employer.

Section 2. (a) Each employer shall pay to each employee other than a tipped employee wages at a rate that is no less than ten dollars ($10) per hour or the federal minimum wage, whichever is larger.

(b) The increase to ten dollars ($10) shall occur in the following increments: The first increase on January 1, 2017, to eight dollars and 10 cents ($8.10) per hour, the second increase on July 1, 2017, to eight dollars and 95 cents ($8.95) per hour and the last increase on January 1, 2018, to ten dollars ($10) per hour.

(c) The wages paid to a tipped employee may not fall below 30 percent of the federal or the state minimum wage rate, whichever is greater, at any time. If an employee's gratuities or voluntary monetary contribution combined with the employer's direct wages do not equal the applicable minimum wage rate, the employer must pay the difference in the form of a tip credit.

Section 3. Each employer subject to this amendment shall keep a summary of this amendment and any applicable wage orders and regulations posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in or about the premises or place of business of the employer.

Section 4. An employer who violates the minimum wage requirements of this amendment shall be liable to the employee for the amount of unpaid minimum wages plus interest. The court, in addition to any judgment awarded to an employee, shall require the defendant to pay court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the employee. An action under this section must be instituted within three years from the date the wages should have been paid.

Section 5. Nothing in this amendment shall be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages in excess of the applicable minimum wage provided for by this amendment.

Section 6. Beginning January 1, 2021, and every subsequent three years, the minimum wage provided in Section 2 shall be increased by the same amount as the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Alabama as reported by the United States Department of Labor for the previous July 1, or any subsequent equivalent index. The Director of Finance shall notify the Alabama Department of Labor in writing between October 1 and October 15 of each fiscal year of the percentage to be used for the cost-of-living adjustment for the next three calendar years. The Alabama Department of Labor shall post any change in the minimum wage on its website which shall serve as notice to each employer of this state.

Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment shall be held in accordance with Sections 284 and 285 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Sections 284 and 285 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, and the election laws of this state.

Section 3. The appropriate election official shall assign a ballot number for the proposed constitutional amendment on the election ballot and shall set forth the following description of the substance or subject matter of the proposed constitutional amendment:

"Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to establish a state minimum wage of ten dollars ($10) per hour, provide the increase from the current rate in three increments commencing on January 1, 2018, and to provide for an increase in the state minimum wage every subsequent three years based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Alabama as reported by the United States Department of Labor.

"Proposed by Act ________."

This description shall be followed by the following language:

"Yes ( ) No ( )."

Constitutional Amendments

Business and Commerce

Business and Labor

Employment

Minimum Wage

Civil Procedure

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