Department Stores Evade New Minimum Wage
Employers in Washington state find a loophole in the new $10 weekly pay law by cutting hours to avoid mandated rates.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Olympia—By working a portion of their forces less than eight hours a day or less than six days a week, department stores in the State of Washington will be able to pay such employees less than the $10 a week established by the Industrial Welfare Commission as the weekly wage rate for mercantile establishments, effective June 27. That some stores intend to try this experiment, using a portion of their employees only during the busier hours of each day or the busier days of each week, is indicated by inquiries as to the effect of the ruling, received by the welfare commission. Labor Commissioner Olson requested a ruling by Attorney-General Tanner on this point, and the attorney general's office, in reply, calls attention to the fact that the minimum wage law provides for establishment of a 'weekly wage rate' and that under this wording the commission has no power to establish a 'weekly wage.'
“By working a portion of their forces less than eight hours a day or less than six days a week, department stores... will be able to pay such employees less than the $10 a week.”
This 1914 report highlights the perennial tension between labor protections and the 'gig-ification' of retail work. Just as employers dodged the $10 minimum wage by fragmenting shifts over a century ago, modern workers often face similar precarity through algorithmically managed 'just-in-time' scheduling.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.