No minimum wage hike for wait staff

U.S. workers earning minimum wage will see an 11 percent increase in their wages starting July 24 when the national minimum wage rises to $7.25 an hour. About 2.2 million low-income workers make minimum wage or less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The largest numbers are in the service sector, in occupations like food preparation, sales and retail. The raise, which will affect thousands of employees who are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, may offer some relief to America's struggling low-income workers. The increase is still far from a living wage that could bring thousands of workers out of poverty, but an increase is seen as an important step as low-wage workers struggle to pay rent in the economic downturn. The minimum wage increase, the last of a three-step increase ($5.85 to $6.55 to $7.25) provided by the Minimum Wage Act of 2007, affects workers in 30 states where the state minimum wage is at or below the federal minimum wage, and in states that have no minimum wage, reports UPI. That includes many Southern states, such as Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, which have no minimum wage laws. Yet, one group of low-wage workers won't be seeing the increase.