Minimum hourly wage: $10
Gap Inc. announced in February it would be upping its minimum hourly pay to $9. In 2015, Gap will be raising the minimum hourly pay again to $10 next year. The move affects the 65,000 employees of Gap, Banana Republic, Piperlime, Athleta and Intermix, which are all owned by Gap Inc.
When the clothing company announced the raise, President Obama, who has pushed for a federal minimum hourly wage to be raised from $7.25 to $10.10, released a statement applauding the move and said, "It’s time to... give America a raise."
Increased worker wages are gaining support from both politicians and private businesses. McDonald's CEO Don Thompson has said the company would back any legislation that raises the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Some cities and states around the US are already raising their minimum wage. In June, the Seattle City Council recently passed a plan to increase minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour. Massachusetts is proposing an increase to $11 per hour, which would give it the highest state minimum wage in the country.
