Get ready to up the minimum wage you pay to new and low-wage workers, maybe by about $2.50 per hour after all is said and done.

Bills to raise the minimum wage are wending their way through both houses of Congress. The proposals would increase the floor on wages in stages:

• $8.10/hour, effective the first day of the third month after the legislation is passed
• $8.95/hour, starting one year after the $8.10 figure goes into effect, and
• $9.80/hour, starting two years after the effective date of the $8.95 figure.

The federal minimum wage now is $7.25 an hour. The bills in Congress would increase that amount according to a formula set by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

Congressional observers are mixed on the likelihood of passage and whether the amounts in current bills will be the ultimate figures if passage happens.