2009 Federal Minimum Wage Increase

The federal minimum wage increases from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour on July 24, 2009. This is the third time and the final annual increase under the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007.

For ten years, while the federal minimum wage sat at $5.15 an hour, members of Congress voted themselves raises that increased wages by an average of $31,600 each. That changed with the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. This new Act released that increase the minimum wage by 70 cents per hour every year for three years.

The increase comes on July 24 each year. The final increase comes July 24, 2009, when the minimum wage rises from $6.55 to $7.25.

The federal minimum wage law is the Faire Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It applies only to those employers who have more than 50 workers or who earn revenues of more than a half-million dollars a year. More than half of all states in America have passed laws that establish a higher minimum wage than the federal rate.