xThe new order will require “federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to hundreds of thousands of workers who are working on federal contracts,” the White House said. The current minimum wage is $10.95 an hour for these workers, who are not civil servants but work for the federal government through contracting firms. The executive order also harmonizes the minimum wage for all federal contract workers, removing lower wages for workers who receive tips that bring their salaries up to the minimum wage level, currently at $7.65 per hour. Raising the minimum wage for all workers in the country to $15 by 2025 from the current $7.25 an hour was one of Biden’s key campaign pledges. Several American retail giants have nevertheless already raised their minimum wages to reach or exceed $15 an hour, including Costco, Target and Amazon.

Source: The Guardian April 27, 2021 10:18 UTC