New York State Department of Labor Minimum Wage Board Records

New York State enacted its first minimum wage law in 1933 as one of the measures to combat the depression. It applied to women and minors, and minimum wage rates were established for laundry service, hotel and restaurant employees. The law was declared unconstitutional by the state Court of Appeals, and the decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. Later, the Supreme Court upheld a minimum wage law enacted by the state legislature of Washington, and in 1937, New York State adopted a second minimum wage law. This law declared it was the public policy of the State of New York that women and minors employed in any occupation should receive wages sufficient to provide them with adequate maintenance to protect their health.

The law provided that the Industrial Commissioner at his own discretion, or upon a petition from 50 or more residents, could initiate an investigation to learn whether the wages being paid in a particular occupation were sufficient to provide adequate maintenance. Based upon his findings, the Commissioner could appoint a wage board composed of three public, three employee and three employer representatives. The economics data prepared by the Labor Department on conditions in the industry, wages for similar jobs in other industries, and the cost of living were to be used by the Board.

The Board was required to hold public hearings, after due notice to all interested parties, to gather additional data. After the hearings, the Board discussed the data in private hearings and recommends a minimum wage based on the following criteria established by the law: an amount sufficient to provide adequate maintenance, the value of the service or class of service rendered, and wages paid in the state for work of like or comparable character. On an average each Board met for about a six month period. With its recommendations for a minimum wage, it submitted a report and the transcript of the public hearings to the Industrial Commissioner. The Commissioner held public hearings on the rate and then issue a minimum wage order, allowing the industry ninety days to comply with the order.

In 1944 the law was amended to cover men as well as women and children. In 1947 the period for compliance was reduced from 90 to 60 days. The policy of the State Labor Department was to apply the law primarily to industries not covered by the Federal Wage and Hour Law. By 1956 about 1,260,000 workers were covered by state minimum wage orders. The first industries to be covered were laundry, beauty service and confectionery in 1938. The cleaning and dyeing industry was covered in 1939 and hotels and restaurants in 1940. As the cost of living rose, additional boards were appointed to make new recommendations for these industries. A wage board number was assigned consecutively to each industry as the Board was appointed, eleven industries or occupations were covered by 1962. The additional boards in each group were then assigned a letter, i.e., the wage order 1-D in the laundry service group would indicate that there have been five boards in the laundry industry.