Further providing for definitions and for minimum wages; providing for eligibility and coverage; further providing for exemptions, for duty of employer, for enforcement and rules and regulations and for civil actions; and repealing provisions relating to preemption.
HB23 would substantially revise Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act. It raises the state minimum wage to $15 per hour beginning July 1, 2026, then requires annual $1 increases starting July 1, 2027 until the wage reaches a county-based living wage for a household of two adults and two children, after which the wage would be indexed to the CPI-U for the Pennsylvania region. The bill also eliminates the tipped subminimum cash wage, requires gratuities to be paid in full to workers, and restricts tip pooling to workers who customarily receive tips, excluding employers, managers, and supervisors.
The bill expands the act’s coverage and definitions to include domestic workers, agricultural workers, incarcerated workers in work programs, workers with disabilities, minors, and workers providing services through marketplace platforms or similar app-based arrangements. It also adds definitions for domestic worker, agricultural worker, marketplace platform, marketplace contractor, and worker with a disability, and clarifies that gratuities cannot be credited toward minimum wage obligations. A limited training wage is retained for workers under age 20 during their first 60 calendar days, but employers may not displace existing workers to use it.
HB23 would amend multiple sections of the Minimum Wage Act of 1968, changing the statutory minimum wage schedule, broadening who is covered, and tightening rules on tipped wages and employer recordkeeping. It would remove exemptions for farm labor and domestic services in private homes, repeal the state’s local minimum-wage preemption provision, and authorize stronger enforcement and civil remedies for unpaid wages and unlawfully retained gratuities. Employers would face new obligations to track hours and wages, provide itemized pay statements including gratuities, and remit credit-card tips without deductions by the next regular payday.
Because there were no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, the available context does not show formal debate or legislative support/opposition. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to reflect a pro-worker, wage-increase policy approach, with emphasis on higher pay, broader coverage, and stronger protections for tipped workers and nontraditional workers. The overall sentiment inferred from the proposal is favorable toward labor standards expansion rather than compromise or limitation.
The main points of contention likely concern the size and pace of the wage increase, the elimination of the tipped subminimum wage, and the expansion of coverage to workers historically excluded from minimum-wage protections. Employers in agriculture, domestic service, hospitality, and app-based platform work may object to higher labor costs and new compliance obligations, while worker advocates are likely to support the bill’s anti-tip-theft provisions, broader coverage, and repeal of preemption so local governments can adopt stronger wage rules. The inclusion of incarcerated workers and workers with disabilities may also be debated as to how the law should apply in those settings.