Minimum wage Explained

The Minimum wage which the employer is required by law to pay to his workers.

In the US, the federal Minimum wage as of 2009 is $7.25 per hour, and any employer paying his workers less is committing a criminal offense.

The logic behind the setting of a Minimum wage is the desire to ensure that workers receive a fair Minimum wage for their work. This is based on the assumption that in conditions of unemployment (the supply of workers exceeds the demand for workers) a situation could arise where certain workers would agree to work for salary which is so low as to represent a form of exploitation of those workers.