Mayor Michael A. Nutter has signed the New Minimum Wage and Benefits Bill introduced by Councilman W. Wilson Goode, Jr. on January 24, 2008 into law.

The New Minimum Wage and Benefits Ordinance will require City-supported employers to pay at least 150% of the federal minimum wage to its employees as of July 2009, and to the extent that the Employer provides health benefits to any of its employees, the Employer shall provide each full-time Employee health benefits at least as valuable as the basic health benefits that are provided to the Employer’s other full-time employees.

Under Goode’s 2005 landmark living wage legislation, City-supported employers must now pay at least 150% of the state minimum wage (which currently amounts to at least $10.72 per hour for City-covered workers) but there was no standard set for minimum benefits.