Teen workers: You get less under Polk minimum wage hike
A higher minimum wage seems all but certain for Polk County workers — but for young teens, the increase will be less.
On Thursday, a Polk County task force officially recommended increasing the county's minimum wage to $10.75 by 2019. But employers will only have to pay 85 percent of the minimum to their workers younger than age 18.
That's a departure from federal and state labor regulations, which sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour for everyone, regardless of their age. Iowa has had the same rate since 2008.
The task force recommendation, which now goes to the Polk County Board of Supervisors, was met with scathing disapproval by labor advocates, who said the wage hike is too low and the lower youth wage is discriminatory.
“I’m really upset," said 13-year-old Chloe Craig of Des Moines, who volunteers for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.
Craig said she looks forward to getting a job when she turns 14 and asked the task force members to think about the teenagers who work to help support families.
"We have to consider the homeless teens or the teens that are raising a child that they had at a young age or their siblings,” she said.
Andrew Rasmussen, president of the Des Moines Education Association, had broader criticisms. The county's wage hike plan is a "good try," he said, but it doesn't go far enough.
Though he appreciated the county's initiative in taking on the issue, especially with state lawmakers avoiding action on the issue, "I'm going to have to give you a C minus," he said. "It's not bad, but it could have been better."
A separate wage for youth
The minimum wage task force voted 10-2 on the lower youth worker wage Thursday. Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, and Anne Bacon, executive director of Impact Community Action Partnership, voted against it.
Dunker said she was worried the youth wage would dissuade some employers from hiring adults, electing instead to hire cheaper teenagers.
Mike Holms, marketing director at Jethro's barbecue restaurants, said county officials were picking favorites with the youth wage, giving grocery stores and big-box retailers a break. The Iowa Grocery Association was among those pushing a lower youth wage.
Plus, Holms said the youth wage will give the youngest workers an edge.
"You’re creating a barrier to employment for the actual people that are heads of households who actually need this help," he said.
Some task force members pushed the separate wage for young workers because of limitations placed on their duties and hours. Iowa law says 14- and-15-year-olds are only eligible to work if they have a permit.
Youth wage 'still going up'
Supervisor Tom Hockensmith, who has led the minimum wage effort, expects the board to approve a new minimum wage ordinance in October. He doesn't foresee any changes.
The proposal would boost Polk County's minimum wage to $8.75 in April. That would be followed by consecutive $1 increases in January 2018 and 2019, ultimately reaching $10.75 by January 2019, with future annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.
Earlier this month, Polk County Assistant Attorney Roger Kuhle told task force members that carving out a separate youth wage would put the county's ordinance on "thinner ice" legally, since it is a departure from state law. That could make it more apt for a challenge in court.
Johnson County was the first in Iowa to raise the local minimum wage, though its ordinance has never been challenged in court. It did not carve out a youth wage exception.
That discussion led Hockensmith to rethink the youth wage.
"I can only speak for myself, but once you start taking specific classes of workers and doing exemptions, there's just no end to it," he told the Register.
But on Thursday, he said labor laws put too many restrictions on teenage workers to require employers to pay them as much as adults. Plus, he noted that Minnesota has a separate youth wage.
In Minnesota, employers are required to pay workers under age 18 at least $7.75 per hour, while the statewide minimum wage is $9.50 per hour.
"Evidently, its not discriminatory in Minnesota," he said.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- The 'cliff effect': Why a minimum wage hike could hurt families
- Minimum wage hike may hinge on tipped workers
- Polk County task force backs $1.50 bump to minimum wage
- Should a higher minimum wage apply to teen workers?
Polk County's minimum wage proposal
Here's a look at the task force's recommended implementation schedule for Polk County's new overall minimum wage and its minimum for youth workers:
Overall minimum wage
- $8.75 on April 1, 2017
- $9.75 on Jan. 1, 2018
- $10.75 on Jan. 1, 2019
Polk County's youth minimum wage proposal
- $7.44 on April 1, 2017
- 8.29 on Jan. 1, 2018
- $9.13 on Jan. 1, 2019