exemptions from the act, while section 11 requires employers to make and keep, for a period of not less than 3 years, an employment record for each of his employees. Section 12 requires the posting of a copy of the law and a copy of each of the regulations or orders issued under the authority of the law, while section 13 proscribes certain specified acts as violations of the act, among which are included the violation of the provisions of any regulation or order preserved by section 2 of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963. Section 14 sets forth the penalties for the violation of section 13 of the act, while section 15 establishes remedies available to an employee who may be paid less than the wage to which he is entitled under the act or any order or regulation issued thereunder. Section 16 specifies that action to enforce any cause of action for unpaid wages or liquidated damages must be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrued or be forever barred. Section 17 states that nothing in the act should be deemed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages or other conditions of work in excess of the standards applicable under the provisions of the act. Section 18 provides a separability provision.

Section 2 of the substitute purview offered by the Commissioners is designed to preserve the benefits of existing wage orders issued under the authority of the act of September 19, 1918. The employees affected by this provision are women and minors who conceivably, were the industry in which they are employed be exempted from the provisions of the proposed legislation, would be left without the protection presently afforded them by existing wage orders were it not for the preservation of such orders by section 2 of the language which the Commissioners ask be substituted for the purview of S. 860. This section makes provision for revising the preserved wage orders under the procedures provided for by the amendments made by the act, except that in any such revision the wage rate need not be that prescribed in section 3 of the amendments made by the first section of the substitute purview.

The remaining sections of the language proposed by the Commissioners-sections 3, 4, and 5-respectively authorize the Commissioners to delegate the functions vested in them by the act, including the function of making and adopting regulations to carry out the purposes of the act or of any amendments made by the act: establishes an effective date of 180 days after the date of the enactment of the legislation, except that the Commissioners are authorized to promulgate necessary rules, regulations, and orders on and after the date of enactment; and provide a short title, "Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963."

With respect to the minimum wage rates established by section 3 of the amendments of the 1918 act made by the substitute language offered by them, the Commissioners considered establishing rates which would coincide with the rates established by the Fair Labor Standards Act, as applied to employment which was covered for the first time as a result of the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1961, approved May 5, 1961 (Public Law 8730). Had the Commissioners followed this course of action the minimum rates would have been established at $1 on the effective date of the proposed legisla tion, $1.15 beginning September 3, 1964, and $1.25 beginning September 3, 1965. However, due to the fact that all the minimum wage orders presently covering women employees require the payment of more than $1 an hour (with the exception of women employed in hotels and restaurants), and also due to the fact that the proposed legislation might not become effective before September 1964, the Commissioners have decided to recommend legislation establishing a minimum wage rate of $1.15 as of the effective date of the legislation, to be raised to $1.25 effective September 3, 1965. The Commissioners also, with respect to hours of work and overtime compensation, considered seeking legislation providing for such compensation after 44 hours of work per week, effective upon the enactment of the proposed legislation, to be reduced to 42 hours beginning September 3, 1964, and 40 hours beginning September 3, 1965. Again, since the proposed legislation might not become effective until September 1964, the Commissioners decided to recommend legislation providing for the payment of overtime compensation after 42 hours of work per week, to be reduced to 40 hours in September 1965.

The Commissioners are informed that in some industries the wages presently being paid employees are so low that the proposed minimum rate would result in a raise in pay for a large number of workers in such industries. In eating and drinking establishments, for instance, 61 percent of the employees will have increases of varying amounts on and after the effective date of the legislation recommended by the Commissioners. The increase, however, will not be so great

as would first appear, inasmuch as the Commissioners' substitute language provides that certain benefits received by the workers may be taken into account in making up the minimum rate, such as, for example, meals furnished to and gratuities received by, workers in hotels and restaurants. The substitute language also provides that the Commissioners may issue regulations controlling the amount of such items going to make up the minimum wage rate.

With respect to the impact of the 42-hour workweek (subsequently reduced to 40 hours) after which overtime compensation is required to be paid, the Commissioners are informed that during the period covered by the study referred to earlier, in retail trade over 12,000 employees worked more than 40 hours per week, in eating and drinking establishments more than 6,000 employees worked more than 40 hours per week, and 36 percent of the workers in hotels. 35 percent of those in laundries, and 31 percent of those in real estate establishments exceeded 40 hours of work per week. The Commissioners are further informed that the Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Board expects employers to adjust working hours in such a way that only a minimum number of employees will be employed in excess of 42 hours after the effective date of the act, and in excess of 40 hours after September 3, 1965. The Board further is of the view that such action will have the effect of reducing the length of the employee's workweek, increasing the efficiency of the workers, and in some instances in contributing to the creation of additional jobs and the reduction of unemployment.

The Commissioners recognize that one of the industries in the District of Columbia which will be most affected by the proposed legislation is the hotel and restaurant industry. They note the increased number of large and elaborate hotels and restaurants opening up throughout the District and the increase in the number of visitors to the city, in large part the result of a vigorous and successful program carried on by the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade. The Commissioners believe that the employees of the hotels and restaurants should participate in the apparent prosperity of the industry at least to the extent of receiving a wage adequate to meet the needs of persons residing in Washington, D.C. The Commissioners believe it obvious that the failure of the proposed legislation to protect any sizable body of employees, with the result that members of the group continue to receive inadequate compensation to meet their needs, cannot help but have the effect of continuing in existence a situation which the Commissioners believe operates strongly to the detriment of the entire community. For this reason, they desire to emphasize the necessity of providing minimum wage legislation covering all persons employed in private industry carried on in the District of Columbia.

In summation, the Commissioners believe that the establishment of a statutory minimum wage rate for all employees in the District of Columbia-men, women, and minors-is needed. They believe that the economic and social health of the community demands the establishment of such a minimum wage rate. Accordingly, they strongly recommend that the Congress enact S. 860, so amended as to contain the language set forth in the attached proposed purview which they ask be submitted for the present purview of S. 860, at the earliest possible date in order to provide such a minimum wage rate for employees in the District of Columbia, to the end that such employees will receive an adequate living wage which the Commissioners believe will tend to alleviate economic and social evils existing in the District of Columbia.

The Commissioners have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that, from the standpoint of the administration's program, there is no objection to the submission of this report to the Congress.

Yours very sincerely,

WALTER N. TOBRINER, President, Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia.

PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE PURVIEW OF S. 860, 88TH CONGRESS. A BILL "To AMEND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MINIMUM WAGE LAW TO PROVIDE BROADER COVERAGE, IMPROVED STANDARDS OF MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME COMPENSATION PROTECTION, AND IMPROVED MEANS OF ENFORCEMENT"

That the District of Columbia minimum-wage law, approved September 19, 1918 (40 Stat. 960), as amended, is amended (except to the extent provided in section 2 of this Act) by striking out sections 1 through 23. inclusive, immediately following the designation "Title I-Minimum Wages" and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"FINDING AND DECLARATION OF POLICY

"SECTION 1. (a) The Congress hereby finds that there are persons employed in some occupations in the District of Columbia at wages insufficient to provide adequate maintenance and to protect health. Such employment impairs the health, efficiency, and well-being of the persons so employed, constitutes unfair competition against other employers and their employees, threatens the stability of industry, reduces the purchasing power of employees, and requires, in many instances, that their wages be supplemented by the payment of public moneys for relief or other public and private assistance. Employment of persons at these insufficient rates of pay threatens the health and well-being of the people of the District of Columbia and injures the overall economy.

"(b) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this Act to correct and as rapidly as practicable to eliminate the conditions referred to herein above.

"SEC. 2. As used in this Act

"DEFINITIONS

"(a) 'Commissioners' means the Commissioners of the District of Columbia or their designated agent;

"(b) 'Wage' means compensation due to an employee by reason of his employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value, including such allowances as may be permitted by any order or regulation issued under section 3, 5, 6, or 7; "(c) 'Employ' includes to suffer or permit to work;

"(d) 'Employer' includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons, acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee, but shall not include the United States or the District of Columbia;

"(e) 'Employee' includes any individual employed by an employer but shall not include any (1) individual who, without payment and without expectation of any gain, directly or indirectly, volunteers to engage in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization, or (2) lay member elected or appointed to office within the discipline of any religious organization and engaged in religious functions;

"(f) ‘Occupation' means any occupation, service, trade, business, industry, or branch or group of occupations or industries, or employment or class of employment, in which employees are gainfully employed;

"(g) 'Gratuities' means voluntary monetary contributions received by an employee from a guest, patron, or customer for services rendered.

"MINIMUM WAGE AND OVERTIME COMPENSATION

"SEC. 3. (a) Every employer (except as otherwise provided in this Act) shall pay each of his employes at a rate of not less than $1.15 an hour beginning on the effective date of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963, and not less than $1.25 an hour beginning September 3, 1965: Provided. That nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to reduce any higher rate of pay established by any wage order issued pursuant to this Act or preserved by section 2 of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963, or established by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (29 U.S.C.A. 201 et seq.).

"(b) No employer (except as otherwise provided in this Act) shall employ any of his employees (1) for a workweek longer than forty-two hours beginning on the effective date of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963, or (2) for a workweek longer than forty hours beginning September 3, 1965, unless such employees receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.

"(c) The minimum wage orders issued by the Commissioners prior to the effective date of the amendments made by the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963 shall remain in full force and effect, except that they shall, subject to the provisions of section 2 of such Act, be modified, effective on such effective date, as follows:

"(1) any such order which does not provide for minimum wages at a rate prescribed in subsection (a) shall be modified by order of the Commis

sioners to provide for the payment of wages at such prescribed rate (except as otherwise provided in this Act);

"(2) all such orders shall be modified by order of the Commissioners to provide for the payment of overtime compensation as prescribed in subsection (b) of this section (except as otherwise provided in this Act); and "(3) all such orders shall be modified by order of the Commissioners to apply to all employees without regard to the sex of any employee. "(d) For those occupations with respect to which, on the date of the enactment of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963, there is no existing minimum wage order, the Commissioners shall issue an order, effective on the effective date of the amendments made by such Act, providing for minimum wages at a rate prescribed in subsection (a) and for the payment of overtime compensation as prescribed in subsection (b) of this section.

"(e) The minimum wage orders issued by the Commissioners prior to the date of the enactment of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963 shall be modified by the Commissioners on or after the effective date of the amendments made by such Act in order to accommodate, as the Commissioners deem necessary, the definitions and regulations of such orders to carry out the purposes of this Act, to prevent the circumvention or evasion thereof, and to safeguard the minimum wage rates and overtime provisions established therein. The wage orders containing such revisions of definitions and regulations shall take effect upon the expiration of thirty days after the date on which they were made by the Commissioners.

"(f) For those occupations with respect to which on the date of the enactment of the Minimum Wage Amendments Act of 1963 there is no existing minimum wage order, the Commissioners shall, with or without reference to an ad hoc advisory committee as specified in section 5(a), make one or more wage orders which may include unrelated occupations. Such order or orders shall include the minimum wage and overtime provisions as prescribed in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, and include such definitions and regulations as prescribed in section 7 as the Commissioners deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, to prevent the circumvention or evasion thereof, and to safeguard the minimum wage rates and overtime provisions established therein. The Commissioners shall publish a notice once a week, for four successive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation printed in the District of Columbia, stating that they will, on a date and at a place named in the notice, hold a public hearing on such order or orders at which all interested persons will be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. Such notice shall contain a summary of the major provisions of such order or orders. Within thirty days after such hearing, the Commissioners may make such order or orders as may be proper or necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. Notice of such order or orders shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation printed in the District of Columbia and such order or orders shall take effect upon the expiration of sixty days after the date on which such order or orders were made by the Commissioners.

"POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSIONERS

"SEC. 4. The Commissioners or their authorized representative shall have authority

"(a) to investigate and ascertain the wages of persons employed in any occupation in the District of Columbia;

"(b) to enter and inspect the place of business or employment of any employer in the District of Columbia for the purpose of examining and inspecting any or all books, registers, payrolls, and other records of any such employer that in any way relate to or have a bearing upon the wages, hours, or other conditions of employment of any employees; to copy any or all of such books, registers, payrolls, and other records as the Commissioners or their authorized representative may deem necessary or appropriate, and question such employee for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of this Act and the orders and regulations issued thereunder have been and are being complied with; and

"(c) to require from any such employer full and correct statements in writing, including sworn statements, with respect to wages, hours, names, addresses, and such other information pertaining to the employment of his employees as the Commissioners or their authorized representative may deem necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act.

"REVISION OF WAGE ORDERS

"SEC. 5. (a) At any time after a wage order has been in effect for one year the Commissioners may on their own motion, or on the petition of fifty or more residents of the District of Columbia, reconsider the wage rates set therein. If, after investigation, the Commissioners are of the opinion that any substantial number of workers in the occupation covered by such wage order are receiving wages insufficient to provide adequate maintenance and to protect health they may convene an ad hoc advisory committee for the purpose of considering and inquiring into and reporting to the Commissioners on the subject investigated by them and submitted by them to such committee.

"(b) The committee shall be composed of not more than three persons representing the employers in such occupation, of an equal number representing the employees in such occupation, of not more than three persons representing the public, and one or more representatives of the agency designated by the Commissioners to administer this Act. Such agency shall name and appoint all the members of the committee and designate the chairman thereof. Two-thirds of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum and the decision or recommendation or report of the committee on such subject submitted to it shall require an affirmative vote of not less than a majority of all its members.

"(c) The Commissioners shall present to the committee the information relating to the subject they submitted to the committee, and may cause to be brought before the committee any witnesses whose testimony the Commissioners consider material.

"(d) Within sixty days after the convening of the committee by the Commissioners, the committee shall make and transmit to the Commissioners a report containing its findings and recommendations on the subject submitted to it by the Commissioners including recommendations as to minimum wages for employees in the occupation which will effectuate the purposes of this Act, taking into consideration the amount of wages sufficient to provide adequate maintenance and to protect health, the fair and reasonable value of the work performed, and the wages paid in the District of Columbia by fair employers for work of like or comparable character: Provided, That the wages recommended shall not be less than at the rate prescribed in subsection (a) of section 3 or the rate prescribed in the wage order then applicable to such occupation, whichever is higher.

"(e) The committee report may include, but shall not be limited to, recommendations for permissible allowances for board, lodging, or services customarily furnished by employers to employees, or reasonable allowances for gratuities customarily received by employees in any occupation in which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted and have been recognized as a part of the remuneration for hiring purposes. The committee may make a separate inquiry into and report on any branch of any occupation and may recommend different minimum wages for such branch of employment in the same occupation.

"(f) In the event any such committee fails to submit a report to the Commissioners within the period specified in subsection (d), the Commissioners may discharge such committee from further consideration of the subject submitted to it and convene a new committee for the purpose of considering such subject, or the Commissioners themselves may undertake to consider the subject and proceed to prepare and publish a revised wage order for the occupation in accordance with the procedure in section 6.

"ISSUANCE OF REVISED ORDERS

"SEC. 6. (a) Upon receipt of the report from any ad hoc advisory committee, or upon the discharge of such committee, in accordance with section 5(f), the Commissioners may prepare a proposed revised wage order for the occupation, giving due consideration to any recommendations contained in any report of such committee. In such order the Commissioners may provide, among other things, such allowances and classifications as are referred to in section 5(e). The Commissioners shall publish a notice once a week, for four successive weeks, in a newspaper of general circulation printed in the District of Columbia, stating that they will, on a date and at a place named in the notice, hold a public hearing at which all interested persons will be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. Such notice shall contain a summary of the major provisions of the proposed revised wage order.