$15/Hour

From USA Today:
"Seattle raises minimum wage to $15 an hour"

Martina Phelps says the Seattle City Council's historic vote Monday to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour could change her life. Phelps, 22, earns $9.47 per hour working for a McDonald's restaurant near downtown. She wants to move out of her mother's South Seattle home, and she wants to go back to school. She says those things could happen now that the city will have the nation's highest minimum wage. "It's hard right now," she told USA TODAY hours before the midafternoon vote. "I have been trying to save up for school, but I just can't do it. This would mean a lot." The council unanimously approved the measure before a packed house. The plan, which includes a lower training wage aimed at teenagers, will phase in the higher, local minimum over three to seven years, depending on the size of the business and benefits they provide employees. Next April 1, when the plan takes effect, every worker will get at least a $1-an-hour raise. City officials estimate that about a quarter of workers earn less than $15 an hour. Full-time work at that rate translates to about $31,000 a year.  A trade group representing franchise owners said it would sue to overturn the plan, saying it puts Seattle owners at a disadvantage to other small businesses. Washington already has the highest state minimum wage at $9.32 an hour, well above the federal minimum of $7.25.  Businesses employing more than 500 workers would be required to pay $15 an hour by 2017, or 2018 if health care is offered. Smaller businesses would have five to seven years to phase in the increase. Part of employees' tips and benefits could be applied toward the higher minimum for as long as 11 years. The plan was approved unanimously by the City Council members at the meeting, indicating that passage into law was likely.

^ I wouldn't want to live in the Seattle area and need to find a job anytime soon. It has been difficult since Obamacare became law with the majority of businesses hiring only part-time. I can't imagine the difficulty in a place with a $15 an hour minimum wage. It's like Communism - good on paper, but bad in practice. ^

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/06/02/seattle-minimum-wage-vote/9863061/