Minimum wage in Dallas, Texas employment law

The minimum wage in Dallas, Texas is currently $7.25. Minimum wage in Dallas Texas is the same as the minimum wage in Texas at $7.25, set by the Texas Payday Act, which ties minimum wage in Dallas and the rest of Texas to the minimum wage under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Dallas could increase minimum wage above the FLSA minimum wage rate and above the Texas Payday Act minimum wage rate. To my knowledge, no city in Texas opted to require a minimum wage above the federal minimum wage.

Minimum wage in Dallas, Texas

The minimum wage in Dallas, like the rest of the state, is at the lowest possible amount. That is the minimum wage under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Currently that amount is $7.25. New legislation proposed in Congress seeks to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2015. That would set the minimum wage in Dallas, Texas to $10.10.

Texas loves its minimum wage. A 2010 study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated Texas tied for first for the most minimum wage jobs. According to the study, 9.5% of all Texas hourly workers received minimum wage. Policy analysts in Texas argue the high level of minimum wage jobs resulted from low high school and college completion. It’s difficult to draw in more lucrative businesses when the employee pool is under-educated. Of course, the lack of higher paying jobs affects more than just minimum wage employees. In 2010, the median rate of hourly workers’ pay was $11.20 in Texas. Nationally, that number was $12.50. (Numbers reported from link at the top of the paragraph.)

Careful what we wish for in Texas employment

Governor Perry is engaging in nationwide advertising to encourage businesses to come to Texas and that is both a detriment and a benefit to Texans. On one hand, it’s great that fewer Texans will struggle to find jobs (although when existing jobs move from other states that means Americans in other parts of the country will struggle to find work), even if those jobs do not pay well. On the other hand, low Texas education standards that do not bring higher paying jobs will create long term problems.

We will inevitably pay tax credits to businesses bringing low paying jobs (subsidizing our own low pay) and lock people into jobs with low pay and minimal opportunities. Since high paying jobs are less likely to come into Texas, more college educated Texans will flee to other states with higher paying jobs so Texas will subsidize employees in other states through our public education system and state colleges. So the new jobs help but in the long run we are hurting ourselves by letting the state continue to treat the education system as a burden rather than the ignition to a greater economy.

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