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How Minimum Wage Is A Trending Topic Within The United States Essay

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Introduction
There is one very important topic in Human Resource that this paper will discuss which is minimum wage. The first thought that comes to my mind when hearing those two words should be the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act. The 1938 Act provides for minimum wages, maximum hours, overtime, and child labor protection. The law amended many times, covers most employees (Dessler, 2013). I believe this is a Human Resource topic because it deals with employee compensation. Employee Compensation “includes all forms of pay going to employees and arising from their employment” (Dessler, 2013). Minimum wage is a trending topic within the United States as well as around the world.
History of Minimum Wage
In today’s society a lot of the different countries around the world have established some sort of minimum wage. The first minimum wage law in the United States was established in 1912 in the state of Massachusetts. Several states would follow suit over the next two decades, and, in 1938 at the height of the Great Depression Congress established the first federal minimum wage as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The minimum wage was last increased (to $3.35) in 1981. Since then, average hourly wages have risen by 25 percent, eliminating any momentum for a lower minimum wage for youth but reviving proposals for another increase in the nominal minimum (Brown, 1988).
All US states but 5 have their own minimum wage laws. Five southern states have no minimum wage laws,

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