Minimum Wage Laws in Alabama

• January 27th, 2020
• in Capstone Commentary

by Kaitlin Tindol

The United States Department of Labor requires that employees be compensated at a federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour.[1] The Department also mandates that employees who work a job where they are regularly tipped more than $30 dollars per month are only required to be compensated by their employers at a wage rate of $2.13 per hour.[2] This is known as the “tipped wage policy.” However, these long-standing traditions of adopting tip wage and the federal minimum wage are beginning to change in many places in response to the rising cost of living. Alabama is one of only 5 states in the United States that does not have state-specified minimum wage laws, along with Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee.[3] The people and economic conditions of Alabama could greatly benefit from following the trend of other states who are making adaptive changes in minimum wage, and therefore taking steps by which to ensure their working class earns a living wage.