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Senate adopts amendment to minimum-wage bill to carve out seasonal-amusement exception
Summary
The Utah Senate adopted a floor amendment to the minimum-wage bill that lets certified seasonal amusement employers pay seasonal hourly workers less than the statutory minimum if end-of-season compensation brings average pay up to the minimum; the Industrial Commission retains supervisory authority. The amendment passed on a recorded roll call.
Senators on the floor adopted an amendment to the chamber’s minimum-wage measure that creates a narrowly tailored exception for certain seasonal amusement employers.
Sponsor Senator Black said the change was negotiated with Lagoon (an amusement-park operator) and the Industrial Commission to address a fiscal note and operational concerns. Under the adopted language, a seasonal hourly employee at a seasonal amusement establishment that operates fewer than seven months per year and whose receipts for six months do not exceed one-third of receipts for the other six months may be paid less than the statutory minimum provided other direct monetary compensation (tips, incentives, end-of-season bonuses or commissions) brings the employee’s average hourly compensation for the season up to the applicable minimum wage. The amendment also places supervision responsibilities with the Industrial Commission.
Senator Brady and other supporters said Lagoon and other affected parties agreed to the language after negotiations. Opponents raised questions about how tips and bonuses would be tallied and who would certify compliance; Senator Black said the employer would document the compensation and that certification and oversight would involve the Industrial Commission. "They certify this thing and I...I don't know what reporting they have, but you find the same language in the minimum wage for the adults on the tips part," Black said during floor debate.
A roll-call vote on the amendment was requested and recorded; the clerk read a roll with senators voting aye; the amendment was recorded as carried on a vote of 26 ayes (roll-call listed on the record). The amendment was incorporated and the bill continued through the legislative process.
The floor debate focused on implementation details (who tallies tips, how end-of-season bonuses are applied) and on safeguards so the exception applies only to the narrow class of seasonal amusement employees described in the amendment. The sponsor and backers said the change was intended to address industry concerns without creating a broad tip-exemption from the minimum wage.
