Pennsylvania SB 19: An Act amending the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, further providing for definitions, for minimum wages and for exemptions; providing for gratuities; further providing for enforcement and rules and regulations, for penalties and for civil actions; repealing provisions relating to preemption; and providing for local option and for taxpayer savings and reinvestment.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 685
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 19
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY TARTAGLIONE, STREET, KEARNEY, HUGHES, KANE, COSTA,
COMITTA, SAVAL, CAPPELLETTI AND HAYWOOD, APRIL 28, 2025
REFERRED TO LABOR AND INDUSTRY, APRIL 28, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of January 17, 1968 (P.L.11, No.5), entitled
"An act establishing a fixed minimum wage and overtime rates
for employes, with certain exceptions; providing for minimum
rates for learners and apprentices; creating a Minimum Wage
Advisory Board and defining its powers and duties; conferring
powers and imposing duties upon the Department of Labor and
Industry; imposing duties on employers; and providing
penalties," further providing for definitions, for minimum
wages and for exemptions; providing for gratuities; further
providing for enforcement and rules and regulations, for
penalties and for civil actions; repealing provisions
relating to preemption; and providing for local option and
for taxpayer savings and reinvestment.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 3(d) of the act of January 17, 1968
(P.L.11, No.5), known as The Minimum Wage Act of 1968, is
amended to read:
Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:
* * *
(d) "Wages" mean compensation due to any employe by reason
of his or her employment, payable in legal tender of the United
States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at
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full face value, subject to such deductions, charges or
allowances as may be permitted by regulations of the secretary
under section 9.
"Wage" paid to any employe includes the reasonable cost, as
determined by the secretary, to the employer for furnishing such
employe with board, lodging, or other facilities, if such board,
lodging, or other facilities are customarily furnished by such
employer to his or her employes: Provided, That the cost of
board, lodging, or other facilities shall not be included as a
part of the wage paid to any employe to the extent it is
excluded therefrom under the terms of a bona fide collective-
bargaining agreement applicable to the particular employe:
Provided, further, That the secretary is authorized to determine
the fair value of such board, lodging, or other facilities for
defined classes of employes and in defined areas, based on
average cost to the employer or to groups of employers similarly
situated, or average value to groups of employes, or other
appropriate measures of fair value. Such evaluations, where
applicable and pertinent, shall be used in lieu of actual
measure of cost in determining the wage paid to any employe.
In determining the hourly wage an employer is required to pay
a tipped employe, the amount paid such employe by his or her
employer shall be an amount equal to: (i) the cash wage paid the
employe which for the purposes of the determination shall be not
less than [the cash wage required to be paid the employe on the
date immediately prior to the effective date of this
subparagraph] seventy percent of the wage in effect under
section 4; and (ii) an additional amount on account of the tips
received by the employe which is equal to the difference between
the wage specified in subparagraph (i) and the wage in effect
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under section 4 of this act. The additional amount on account of
tips may not exceed the value of tips actually received by the
employe. The previous sentence shall not apply with respect to
any tipped employe unless:
(1) Such employe has been informed by the employer of the
provisions of this subsection;
(2) All tips received by such employe have been retained by
the employe and shall not be surrendered to the employer to be
used as wages to satisfy the requirement to pay the current
hourly minimum rate in effect; where the gratuity is added to
the charge made by the establishment, either by the management,
or by the customer, the gratuity shall become the property of
the employe; except that this subsection shall not be construed
to prohibit the pooling of tips among employes who customarily
and regularly receive tips.
* * *
Section 2. Section 4(a) of the act is amended by adding a
paragraph to read:
Section 4. Minimum Wages.--Except as may otherwise be
provided under this act:
(a) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employes
wages for all hours worked at a rate of not less than:
* * *
(9) Fifteen dollars ($15) an hour beginning January 1, 2026.
Each succeeding January 1 thereafter, the minimum wage shall be
increased by an annual cost-of-living adjustment calculated by
the secretary using the percentage change in the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Delaware and Maryland area. In calculating the
adjustment, the secretary shall use the most recent twelve-month
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