Maybe it was different at my store. I seem to remember something about McD’s doing business interstate, so they had to pay minimum wage. Anyway, they paid $1.60, and I was glad to get it. When I left, I was at the lowest rung on the managerial ladder (opening the store each day). I got $2.15/hr. which was OK for a 17-year-old back then, plus I wore a red paper disposable hat that said Manager on it. (Remember the paper hats?)
It was different at your McDonald’s if you weren’t exempt from the racist federal minimum wage law like mine was.
The first federal minimum wage law, the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, was enacted at the behest of labor unions because black companies were underbidding white union companies.
Coincidentally, 1931 was also the last year the black unemployment rate was lower than the white unemployment rate.
My Mickey D’s was a franchise of several locations owned by a couple of local investors.
Yours may have been owned by Mickey D’s Inc. and subject to the law you reference.