The research included 3 million Glassdoor reviews of 500 large employers in 25 industries to uncover which sectors have the most frustrated workers as far as wages are concerned.

Only workers in the education field are less satisfied with their pay than are workers in healthcare, according to the findings.

“This is likely one reason why education and health services have a higher-than average vacancy rate of roughly 6%, compared to about 5% across all industries, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,” wrote Carissa Rawson, Glen Luke Flannigan and Robin Saks Frankel.

At the other end, workers in the field of pharmaceuticals/biotechnology were least likely to have complaints about the amount in their paycheck, followed by workers in food/soft beverages/alcohol/tobacco and utilities.

Help may be in sight for some healthcare workers, but optimism may be waning in California, where, in the wake of a projected $38 billion deficit, Gov. Gavin Newson (D) is reevaluating an incremental minimum wage increase to $25 an hour for workers in nursing homes, assisted living communities and other settings. He had signed it into law in October.

California has the largest number of skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities of any state, according to SNF Data and Statista.

Overall, nursing home salaries — including those of executives — continued their upward trajectory with many facilities responding to staffing shortfalls by increasing hourly rates and offering signing bonuses, according to the industry’s largest annual salary survey released in August.

According to the results of another study, from TollFreeForwarding.com, registered nurse salaries are projected to increase over the next decade at a rate that surpasses the rate of increases for some other healthcare professions.

Meanwhile, resident assistants in assisted living communities received a 9.22% hourly rate increase in 2022, according to the 25th annual Assisted Living Salary & Benefits Report, published by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service. Resident assistant hourly rates increased by 10.61% in 2021 and by 9.22% in 2022. As a result of continued pay increases, turnover rates for the position began to decrease in 2022. Resident assistant turnover was 68.09% in 2021 but declined in 2022 to 49.08%. Vacancy rates for resident assistants were 19.91% in 2022.

California has the largest number of skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities of any state, according to SNF Data and Statista. 

The current minimum wage increase plan would affect approximately 400,000 workers in the Golden State. It is meant to increase the state’s hourly minimum wage from its current $15.50 for healthcare-related workers. The incremental wage increase for covered workers would be $23 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025; $24 per hour from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026; and $25 per hour from June 1, 2026.

The Newsom administration was opposed to the dramatic wage increase at the onset of discussions. Other opponents included the California Assisted Living Association, the California Association of Health Facilities, LeadingAge California and the California Chamber of Commerce, which argued that the “astronomical increase in labor costs that will result from SB 525 is simply not sustainable.”

According to KFF Health News, “the governor’s latest budget asks the state legislature to add an annual trigger making the minimum wage increases contingent on state revenues and to clarify which state employees are included, citing ‘the significant fiscal impact’ of the law.” 

Newsom told reporters Wednesday that he had been assured that such triggers would be forthcoming, “even though it wasn’t in the bill,” multiple media outlets reported. 

“We’re confident all parties that committed to that agreement are going to meet it and do so very shortly,” the governor said.

The report was prepared in response to a request by Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA), the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

The act was introduced in Congress last summer. Under it, the minimum wage would be increased, in annual increments, to $17 per hour by July 2029. The first increase would bring the federal minimum wage to $9.50 on July 1.

Most low-wage workers would be covered by the bill, although it would not apply to self-employed individuals, “casual” babysitters or some seasonal workers. Some of the effects would be felt by workers employed in nursing homes and home health, according to the CBO, because Medicaid and Medicare programs pay for much of the care in those settings.

The bill’s enactment would reduce federal spending in some areas, however, according to the CBO. For instance, according to the report, Medicaid spending would be reduced due to changes in the distribution of income and increased spending for subsidies for health insurance obtained through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, “because more people would qualify for such benefits.”

Social Security also could be affected by the legislation, according to the report, because of increases in average benefits.

“Those benefits would increase in part because initial benefits are indexed to economywide average wages, which would be boosted by a higher minimum wage,” the CBO said. “In CBO’s assessment, those benefits would also increase because raising the minimum wage would increase prices, which would in turn boost annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients.”

The legislation was spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chair of the Senate HELP Committee.

Sanders called the current federal minimum wage a “starvation wage,” noting that for a 40-hour work week, the minimum wage works out to approximately $15,000 per year, an amount that is below the federal poverty line for a two-person household.

“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality and record-breaking corporate profits, we can no longer tolerate millions of workers being unable to feed their families because they are working for totally inadequate wages,” Sanders said last July.

“The Raise the Wage Act will increase the pay and standard of living for nearly 28 million workers across this country,” Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) said.

The bill is a reboot of 2021 legislation of the same name, which failed to gain traction. It was estimated at that time that the bill would affect 2 million direct care workers

According to CBO, if the bill becomes law, the cumulative budget deficit over the 2024-to-2033 period would increase by $46 billion.

States with their own minimum wage rate can exceed the federal minimum level. Twenty-two states raised their minimum wage on Jan. 1. States that introduced minimum wage increases include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.

The 22 states with minimum wage increases coming in the new year: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington. 

Local communities with minimum wage increases coming that are higher than the applicable state minimum wage, according to labor attorney Derek McKee of Polsinelli, are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine and Maryland.

“Employers should confirm that any minimum wage rates are adjusted properly,” McKee cautioned. “In addition, employers with tip credit employees should review their tip credit notices to ensure full compliance with applicable laws (including cash wage being paid to the tipped employee and amount of tip credit claimed by employer).”

As of Jan. 1, seven states and Washington, DC, will have minimum wages of $15 or more. That’s up from four states and DC at the start of 2023, CNN reported. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009.

Washington state will see the highest state minimum wage at the start of the year, at $16.28, followed by California, at $16 per hour.

In October, the minimum wage for nursing home, assisted living and other healthcare workers in California was increased to $25 an hour, to be implemented in stages. The minimum wage for covered healthcare workers will be $23 per hour from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025; $24 per hour from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026; and $25 per hour starting June 1, 2026.

According to CNN, other states will be implementing increases later in the year. Nevada and Oregon have increases set for July 1, with Florida bumping up its rate on Sept. 30.

The legislation also would mandate the use of E-verify in an effort to ensure that the wage increase only goes to workers legally eligible to work in the United States.

“Despite rising costs of living, the federal minimum wage has not been increased in more than a decade, which has left millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet,” Romney said in a statement. “Our proposal would raise wages for millions of workers without risking jobs and tether the wage to inflation to ensure it keeps up with rising costs. Additionally, requiring employers to use E-Verify would ensure that the wage increase goes to legal workers, which would protect American jobs and eliminate a key driver of illegal immigration.”

The bill, named the Higher Wages for American Workers Act of 2023, automatically would raise the minimum wage every two years to match the rate of inflation. It would create a slower phase-in for businesses with fewer than 20 employees. Additionally, the proposed legislation, if passed as written, would raise civil and criminal penalties on employers that hire unauthorized immigrants or violate I-9 paperwork requirements.

The proposal is a reboot of a similar bill that Romney and colleagues put forth in 2021 that would have raised the minimum wage to $10 an hour, with the same requirement of legal status. The bill failed to gain traction in the Senate.

In July of this year, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spearheaded legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $17 by 2028. 

At the time, Sanders called the $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage a “starvation wage.” For a 40-hour work week, it would translate to $15,000 per year, an amount that is below the federal poverty line for a two-person household.

“It seems unlikely that either of the current proposals will be enacted. Instead, federal minimum wage will likely remain at $7.25 per hour, where it has been for well over a decade,” attorney Keith E. Kopplin with Ogletree Deakins in Milwaukee told the McKnight’s Business Daily. “Be that as it may, employers must still comply with higher state and local minimum wage requirements, many of which are automatically adjusted at regular intervals.”

States with their own minimum wage rate can exceed the federal minimum level. This year, the minimum wage exceeds the federal rate in more than half of the states. Washington state leads the nation, with a minimum wage of $15.74 an hour. Washington, DC, has a higher rate than any state, at $17 per hour as of June.