Published: July 03, 2009 04:15 pm      

Kentucky workers get wage increase before federal mandate

Kentucky did not wait on the federal government to mandate a minimum wage increase, which is scheduled for July 24. The state general assembly voted to have the wage hike begin July 1, boosting the going rate of $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.

All states must comply by the July 24 deadline.

“This increase is significant for many Kentucky workers who, like others, have been struggling during these difficult economic times,” said J.R. Gray, state labor secretary.

Though this may come as good news to many, it unfortunately does not include tipped employees such as restaurant servers, who will continue receiving $2.13 an hour plus tips earned.

As of July 1, all minimum-wage workers making less than $7.25 an hour were brought up to that level.

This move affected about 18 percent of Brad Parks’ employees. Parks and his wife, Sunday Parks, own a McDonald’s franchise that includes two Berea locations.

Most of his employees already are above the $7.25 mark, and the Parks’ pay scale is based on performance, he said.

Employees’ work is graded and placed in one of four categories: outstanding, excellent, good and needs improvement.

The performance-based pay scale, along with the federal mandate, has cut down on employees who leave to find other jobs, Parks said.

“Usually in this business, the crew turnover is in the triple digits,” he said.

Richmond resident Ben Smith works at Wendy’s on N. Keeneland Drive, and many of his co-workers were becoming disgruntled with receiving $6.25 an hour.

“I heard people complain about it all the time at work,” Smith said. “People would talk about going to other places.”

Myna Perkins of Richmond recently moved from Somerset, where she was an employee for a clothing retail chain.

“They never gave raises the way they said they were going to,” she said.

Perkins had made her way to $7 an hour and said the increase made her more motivated to begin job hunting in Richmond.

“At least I know that at the least, I’ll start with a quarter more on the hour,” she said.

Members of Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) recently analyzed the impact that the minimum wage increase would have on Kentuckians.

“While it’s no magic bullet, the minimum wage increase will help low-wage individuals and families help themselves, and this is an important step toward greater financial self-sufficiency,” said Terry Brooks, executive director of KYA.

The organization released a statement last week that predicted the actions employers might take to compensate for having to pay employees more money on the hour.

Some of these actions include decreasing workers’ hours, adjusting benefits and increasing the price of goods and/or services.

Find a complete copy of the policy brief on KYA’s Web site at www.kyyouth.org.

Visit www.labor.ky.gov for more information about the federal minimum wage increase mandate.



Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.