Our company wants to hire employees in at 6.15 (new minimum wage) an hour and when they receive their health insurance benefits at aprox 6 months, they want to take their pay back down to 5.15 an hour. (Employer's who make a qualified health insurance plan available to their employees can pay a minimum wage of 5.15 per hour. Is this legal to start at one wage and then drop them down to a lower wage for doing the same job?

Pay cuts are not unlawful. The law only stipulates the minimum a worker must make (i.e. minimum wage laws). Since the workers are being given advance warning of the pay cut and the pay rate would not be in violation of the minimum wage law, it's perfectly legal.

But, once the minimum wage is $6.15, they can't lower their hourly rate to anything less than that, whether benefits are offered or not.

Now, they CAN offer medical insurance premiums on a pre-tax basis, which would effectively lower the employee's taxable wages, but that's a separate issue; that's not lower the GROSS hourly rate to below whatever the minimum wage is at the time.....that they cannot legally do.

Pattymd: I've read that Nevada has an interesting twist to the minimum wage law. The rate $6.15 per hour. The special provision always for employers to pay $5.15 per hour if benefits are offered. This is the first state I've seen that made such a provision. Here is a link for clarification: http://www.laborcommissioner.com/faqs.htm.

You are kidding me. :eek: Sheesh. Is my face red. :o Looks like I'll remember that forever. *sigh*

Is my face red. :o

I almost was, too. I was going to point out the error of Robb's ways, but then re-read the original post and saw that a sub-minimum wage was allowed for employers with medical coverage. I had not heard of this and find it to be an interesting twist.

Not that such a proposal would get any traction in my state where the Legislature thinks companies have an infinite ability to absorb increased costs.