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Based upon these investigations and its study of the effect of minimum-wage legislation already existing, the New York commission submitted to the New York Legislature, with its recommendations, a bill providing for the establishment of a minimum-wage commission, modeled upon the Massachusetts act, with enforcement by publication of the names of employers paying less than the minimum rate fixed. The text of this bill is given at the end of this Bulletin.1

1 Much similar information in regard to the wages and conditions of wage-earning women is given in the various reports on recent investigations devoted to the subject. Some of these reports are the following: Connecticut.

Report of the Special Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Wage-Earning Women and Minors in the State, 1913.

Report of the Bureau of Labor on Conditions of Wage-Earning Women and Girls, 1914.

Kentucky.

Report of the Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Working Women in Kentucky, 1911. Michigan.

Special Investigation of Working Conditions of Women and Girls (in 30th Annual Report of Department of Labor, 1912-1913).

Missouri.

Report of the Senate Wage Commission for Women and Children in the State of Missouri to the Senate of the 48th General Assembly of Missouri, January, 1915.

Report on the Wage-Earning Women of Kansas City, published by the Board of Public Welfare Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1912-1913.

There is also much information in regard to the wages of working women in many of the recent Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, especially those in the Women in Industry Series and in the Wages and Hours of Labor Series.

LEGISLATION IN FORCE IN THE UNITED STATES.

With the purpose of correcting the conditions in the various States, as indicated by the investigations just referred to and by a number of similar studies, minimum-wage legislation has been enacted in nine States. The laws enacted in these nine States are of three distinct types:

(1) Where the specific minimum wage is fixed by the legislature and embodied in the statute, as in Utah.

(2) Where the minimum wage is fixed by the administrative authority, the minimum wage commission, upon the investigations and recommendations of advisory wage boards made up of representatives of employers, employees, and the public, and where the only power of enforcement is such as results from the power of the commission to publish the names of those employers paying less than the minimum rate. States having laws of this type are Massachusetts and Nebraska.

(3) Where the minimum wage is determined as in Massachusetts and Nebraska, as above described, but where the commission is given powers of enforcement, and a penalty of fine or imprisonment or both is provided for in case of violation of the law by payment of rates less than the minimum fixed. States having laws of this class are California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. The laws of the various States have also numerous other differences, most of them of less importance, which may best be seen in the comparative analysis given below. The California act, it should be pointed out, is in a somewhat different position from any of the other laws so far as its legal validity is concerned, from the fact that in November, 1914, a constitutional amendment was adopted granting specific authority to the legislature to place the fixing of wage rates for women and minors in the hands of a commission, thus removing the subject from the field of legal controversy.

Ohio, it should be noted, in 1912 adopted a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to establish a minimum wage, the authorization in this case extending to men as well as to women and children. The words of the Ohio amendment are as follows:

"Laws may be passed fixing and regulating the hours of labor, establishing a minimum wage, and providing for the health, safety, and general welfare of all employees, and no provision of the constitution shall impair or limit this power."

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMERICAN MINIMUM-WAGE

LAWS.

LAWS IN FORCE.

California: Acts of 1913, chapter 324 (May 26, 1913), in effect August 10, 1913. No wage determination yet made.

Colorado: Acts of 1913, chapter 110 (May 14, 1913). No determination yet made. Massachusetts:

Acts of 1912, chapter 706 (June 4, 1912), in effect July 1, 1913.

Acts of 1913, chapters 330 (Mar. 21, 1913) and 673 (May 19, 1913), in effect Mar. 21, and July 1, 1913. First wage determination in effect August 15, 1914. Minnesota: Acts of 1913, chapter 547 (Apr. 26, 1913), in effect June 26, 1913. Wage orders issued in October, 1914, suspended by injunction.

Nebraska: Acts of 1913, chapter 211 (Apr. 21, 1913), in effect July 17, 1913. No wage determination yet made.

Wage rates in effect with the law. 1913), in effect June 13, 1913. First

Oregon: Acts of 1913, chapter 62 (Feb. 17, 1913), in effect June 2, 1913. First wage determination in effect October 4, 1913. Utah: Acts of 1913, chapter 63 (Mar. 18, 1913). Washington: Acts of 1913, chapter 174 (Mar. 24, wage determination in effect June 27, 1914. Wisconsin: Acts of 1913, chapter 712 (July 31, 1913), in effect August 1, 1913. No wage determination yet made.

INDUSTRIES COVERED.

California: All occupations, trades, and industries in which the wages paid to women and minors are inadequate or the hours or conditions of labor prejudicial to health, morals or welfare.

Colorado: All mercantile, manufacturing, laundry, hotel, restaurant, telephone, or telegraph businesses in which the wages paid to female or minor employees are inadequate.

Massachusetts: All occupations in which the wages paid to a substantial number of

female employees are inadequate, or in which the majority of employees are minors. Minnesota: All occupations in which the wages paid to one-sixth or more of the women or minor employees are less than a living wage.

Nebraska: All occupations in which the wages paid to a substantial number of female employees are inadequate.

Oregon: All occupations in which, for any substantial number of women workers, the hours are unreasonable, or conditions detrimental, or wages inadequate, and all occupations in which minors are employed.

Utah: All regular employers of female workers.

Washington: All occupations, trades, or industries in which the wages of female employees are inadequate or the conditions of work prejudicial to health and morals, and all occupations in which minors are employed.

Wisconsin: All occupations in which the wages paid to any female or minor employee are not a living wage.

EMPLOYEES TO WHOM MINIMUM WAGE MAY BE MADE APPLICABLE.

California: Women, and minors under 18 years of age.

Colorado: Female employees over 18 years of age, and minors under 18.

Massachusetts: Female employees, and minors under 18 years of age.

Minnesota: Women, and minors (males under 21 years of age and females under 18). Nebraska: Female employees, and minors under 18 years of age.

Oregon: Women, and minors under 18 years of age.

Utah: Females only.

Washington: Women, and minors under 18 years of age.

Wisconsin: Females, and minors (under 21 years of age).

BASIS TO BE USED IN FIXING MINIMUM RATES OF WAGES.

California: A wage adequate to supply to such women and minors the necessary cost of proper living and to maintain their health and welfare.

Colorado: A wage suitable for female employees over 18 years of age, and also a wage suitable for minors under 18, taking into consideration the cost of living, the financial condition of the business, and the probable effect thereon of any increase in the minimum wage.

Massachusetts: A wage suitable for a female employee of ordinary ability, and wages suitable for learners and apprentices, and for minors under 18 years, taking into consideration the needs of the employees, the financial condition of the occupation, and the probable effect thereon of any increase in the minimum wage. Minnesota: Wages sufficient for living wages for women and minors of ordinary ability, also minimum wages sufficient for living wages for learners and apprentices. Nebraska: A wage suitable for a female employee of ordinary ability, and wages suitable for learners and apprentices, and for minors under 18 years, taking into consideration the needs of the employees, the financial condition of the occupation, and the probable effect thereon of any increase in the minimum wage.

Oregon: A rate adequate to supply the necessary cost of living to women workers of average ordinary ability and maintain them in health. Suitable wages for learners and apprentices. Suitable wages for minors.

Utah: Rates are specified in law.

Washington: A wage adequate in the occupation or industry to supply women over 18 years of age the necessary cost of living and maintain them in health. Wages suitable for minors in any occupation.

Wisconsin: A living wage, that is, a wage sufficient to enable the female or minor employee receiving it to maintain himself or herself under conditions consistent with his or her welfare.

LAW

PROVISION OF LAW IN REGARD TO FIXING RATES BELOW THE STANDARD MINIMUM OR ISSUING LICENSES FOR DEFECTIVES.

California: No provision for special rates for minors or learners. Special license to women only if physically defective by age or otherwise, renewable semiannually. Colorado: Separate minimum rate for minors under 18. Special license for any female over 18, physically defective.

Massachusetts: Separate minimum for minors under 18 and for learners and apprentices. Special license for women physically defective.

Minnesota: Separate minimum for learners and apprentices. Special license for women physically defective, but the number of such licensed persons shall not exceed one-tenth of the whole number of workers in any establishment. Nebraska: Separate minimum for minors under 18 and for learners and apprentices. Special license for women physically defective.

Oregon: Separate minimum for minors and for learners and apprentices. Special license for women physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise.

Utah: Rate for minors and for learners and apprentices specified in law. No provision for defectives.

Washington: Separate minimum for minors. Special license for apprentices, for period to be specified. Special license for women physically defective or crippled by age or otherwise.

Wisconsin: Minors in an occupation which is a "trade industry" must be indentured. Special license commensurate with ability for women or minors unable to earn the living wage.

COMPOSITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND ADVISORY BODIES WHICH FIX MINIMUM WAGES.

California:

Administrative authority.-Industrial welfare commission, five members, at least one to be a woman.

Advisory board.-Wage board, equal number of representatives of employers and of employees in occupation, trade, or industry in question, with a member of the commission as chairman.

Colorado:

Administrative authority.-State wage board, three persons, one a representative of labor, one an employer, at least one to be a woman. No advisory wage board. Massachusetts:

Administrative authority.-Minimum wage commission, three persons, one of whom may be a woman.

Advisory board.-Wage board, not less than six representatives of employers, an equal number of representatives of female employees in the occupation, and one or more disinterested persons representative of the public; the representatives of the public not to exceed one-half of the number of representatives of either of the other parties. One of the representatives of the public shall be named as chairman.

Minnesota:

Administrative authority.-Minimum wage commission, three persons, commissioner of labor, one an employer of women, and one a woman, who shall act as secretary.

Advisory board. Not less than 3 nor more than 10 representatives of employers, and an equal number of representatives of workers in the occupation, and one or more disinterested persons to represent the public, not to exceed the number of representatives of either of the other parties. One-fifth of members shall be women, and at least one of the representatives of the public shall be a woman.

Nebraska:

Administrative authority.-Minimum wage commission, four persons, the governor, deputy commissioner of labor, a member of the political science department of the University of Nebraska, and one citizen of the State. At least one member shall be a woman.

Advisory board.-Wage board, not less than three representatives of employers and an equal number of representatives of female employees in the occupation, and three representatives of the public. The chairman of the commission shall be chairman of the wage board and the secretary of the commission its secretary.

Oregon:

Administrative authority.—Industrial welfare commission, three persons, so far as practicable one representative of the interests of the employing class, one representative of the interests of the employed class, and one who will be fair and impartial between employers and employees and work for the best interests of the public.

Advisory board.—Conference, not more than three representatives of employers, an equal number of representatives of employees in the occupation, and not more than three disinterested representatives of the public, and one or more commissioners. The chairman shall be named by the commission.

Utah:

Administrative authority.-Commissioner of immigration, labor, and statistics. Advisory board.-None.

82843°-Bull. 167—15— -3

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