Work done by Americans earns pay set at an amount no less than a mimum first added to the national laws in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The price of American work, at the least amount, outclasses the price found in nations that are not bound by a duty to country to pay a minimum.

A Common Wage

The minimum wage that is a measure of American pride is a common wage. Most, not all, employers are bound by duty to pay the wage. Businesses that make less than $500,000 gross can choose to use, or not use, the wage in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Workers in certain occupations that pay at rates chosen by the employer can count on their employer's fairness. Executives have customarily agreed to pay with the business owners and management or set their own pay. Professionals and administrative workers negotiate their pay with the management and the executive officers. College professors and teachers in secondary and elementary schools settle their pay with the officers and peers at the education institution.

Seasonal agricultural workers offer their farm labor for pay decided with each farmer they work for. Fishermen and fisherwomen, and fishing workers, settle on a fair wage for the fishing industry.

Americans employed in helping other Americans enjoy amusement or recreation have avoided any strict pay rule written in the national law. They are paid as they are willing to agree to or write in a contract.

Writers and reporters, and the staff, that work at a newspaper published daily, semi-weekly, or weekly, with a circulation that is largely in the county at less than 4,000 share in the profits made by selling new stories at a rate equal to their part of the newspaper production..

Babysitters help raise children for pay the parents agree on.

Computer professionals in systems analysis, programming, and software engineering have their own higher minimum wage.

A Minimum Wage

No covered American that puts their back or mind into their work earns less than a living wage. The wage is a reward for their committed work. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the minimum wage into law to secure a fair reward for the work done by Americans and protect workers against any employer, who at the time were masters, that takes the support for their business given by workers but gives less pay than the worker can live on.

Overtime Pay

The minimum wage is paid for the first 40 hours of work. Hours worked above the standard 40 hours are charged at a rate 1 and 1/2 times the regular rate.

Current Wage

The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, set on July 24, 2009.

Workers Less than 20 Years Old

Young workers beginning a new job can agree to get paid at $4.25 an hour for the first 90 calendar days of their employment.

Tipped Workers

Employers, such as restaurant owners and hotel managers, that pay tipped workers can count both cash wages and the tips as the pay. If the two together equal less than the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. The cash wage is set at a separate minimum wage.

The current minimum cash wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour.

Special Minimums

The U. S. Department of Labor can approve a special wage for certain workers and give the employer a certificate that says they can pay that wage. A worker with a disability that holds back their productivity in their work can agree to earn a wage that is the standard for a worker without a disability that does the same work, or the prevailing wage rate for experienced workers that do the same work, made lower to fit the productivity the disabled worker can accomplish.

Americans that are working on improving their abilities and merit can earn wages at a special minimum. During their period of improvement, the employer can pay a rate approved and certificated by the Department of Labor. Full time students, student learners, and apprentices can move ahead in their career path and earn amounts below the regular minimum wage to help pay for the costs of improving their work.

A Posted Wage

The Department of Labor makes it the employer's responsibility to post the minimum wage poster where a worker can plainly read the wage they are guaranteed to earn.

Everywhere the Same

There is no other amount less than the minimum wage that can be paid anywhere in America. The wage is everywhere the same. States may set higher minimums in state law, but can not ask for less from their citizens who employ Americans to work.

Sources:

The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938).

U. S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Employee Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act: Federal Minimum Wage (July 2009).

U. S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Employee Rights For Workers with Disabilities Paid at Special Minimum Wages (July 2009).