Minimum Wage Ordinance: $15.00
Issue: Defending Workers & Families
Target Level of Office: Local
Policy Origin: Seattle City Council, Washington
Link: www.YEONetwork.org/2013policy/?i=203
Summary Narrative of the Policy: Following the Mayor’s formation of the Seattle Income Inequality
Advisory Committee, the committee, having reviewed the impact of minimum wage increases
in other cities, relevant studies, and hosted numerous public engagement and industry-specific
forms, recommended that Seattle’s minimum wage be raised to $15.00 per hour. This ordinance
is the result of the committee recommendations which include the $15.00 per hour phased
increases beginning in 2015, and then subsequently indexed to inflation.
Relevant Talking Points & Important Information:
• Citywide minimum wage laws offer local governments a powerful tool for helping lowincome workers and families in their communities. Such measures also have significant
impact on businesses and how they operate.
• Shortly after taking office, Seattle Mayor Edward Murray formed the Income Inequality
Advisory Committee (IIAC) to address a cornerstone of the national opportunity agenda:
a meaningful increase in the compensation of workers. The committee – composed of
leaders in labor, business, and non-profits – was charged with delivering an actionable set
of recommendations for increasing the minimum wage within the city of Seattle.
• The Seattle City Council passed the IIAC recommendation and now, beginning in 2015:
oo Small employers (businesses with fewer than 500 employees) will reach a $15 an
hour minimum wage in seven years. Also established is a temporary guaranteed
minimum compensation responsibility of $15 an hour to be met within the first
five years, which can be achieved by combining employer-paid health care
contributions, consumer-paid tips, and employer-paid wages.
oo Large employers (businesses with 500 or more employees, either in Seattle or
nationally) will reach $15 per hour in three years. The wages of employees who
receive health care benefits will reach $15 per hour in four years.
• According to the National Employment Law Project, studies have found that citywide
minimum wage increases improve low-wage workers’ earnings without slowing
employment growth.
24
Local Level
Policy
2014 Book