Montgomery County’s lowest-paid employees will receive a roughly 25 percent raise, as the Board of Commissioners increases the county’s minimum wage by $4, bringing it to $20.52 an hour, writes Katie Bernard for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The salary board, which includes the county’s commissioners and controller, unanimously voted earlier this week to raise the minimum wage for county employees to $20.52 – the highest rate for county workers in Pennsylvania and nearly triple the state minimum of $7.25.
“If we want strong communities, we have to start with strong teams,” said Commissioner Jamila Winder. “That means paying people fairly.”
However even with the increase, the minimum wage remains below Montgomery County’s living wage, which MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates at $26.61 per hour for a single adult without children.
The new policy will result in immediate raises for 129 county employees but will not impact private-sector wages. Commissioners Neil Makhija and Winder said they hope other employers will follow suit in raising their minimum pay.
“It’s important to recognize that at the county level we can set an example,” said Neil Makhija.
Funding for the raises came from cost-saving measures recommended by the county’s new Office of Innovation, Strategy, and Performance.
Read more about the minimum wage in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
