The new classified employee minimum wage for school year 2012-2013 is $8.02 per hour. The code and calculations are explained below and an example of the calculation is attached.
Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-17-2203 requires school districts to increase the minimum hourly rate paid to full-time classified school employees by a percentage equal to the percentage increase of the consumer price index (CPI). The result is the new minimum hourly rate to be paid to all full-time classified school employees.
The legislation does not provide a specific source for the CPI data. The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) recognizes the Bureau of Labor Statistics' website as a valid source of CPI data: http://www.bls.gov/.
CPI data used for the percentage increase calculation is found at http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cw. Check the first box on the screen, which is labeled, "U.S. All Items, 1982-84=100 - CWUR0000SA0," then scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the button labeled "Retrieve Data."
The data on this page was used to calculate that the CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers increased by 3.60% (.0360) from the twelve-month average of May 2010 through April 2011 to the twelve-month average of May 2011 through April 2012. The minimum hourly rate for the 2011-2012 school year was $7.74. The established increase for 2012-2013 is 3.60% or $0.28 per hour, which results in the new minimum rate of $8.02 per hour.
If a district is currently paying full-time classified employees $8.02 or higher, there is no mandate to increase the rate by the above stated percentage. This rate applies to full-time classified employees only.
For more information on the CPI, go to the following website: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm
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