New Jersey’s minimum wage will increase to $11 per hour on January 1, 2020 as part of the state’s five-year phase-in of a $15 hourly minimum wage.
On February, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage from $8.85, which was increased to $10 per hour in July. On that occasion, he stated that he was “ensuring that the most vulnerable among us will have the means to put food on the table, while growing our economy and addressing priorities of the small business community”.
According to that legislation, the state minimum wage will continue to increase by $1 per hour every January 1 until it reaches $15 per hour on January 1, 2024.
The Garden State is part of the group of 24 states that will increase the minimum wage. More than a dozen cities and counties already have reached $15 an hour.
The research group New Jersey Policy Perspective explained that some 242,000 workers were expected to get a direct boost in their pay, while an additional 275,000 workers would indirectly benefit.
Seasonal workers and employees at small businesses with five or fewer workers who were exempt from the previous hike over the summer will have an increase to $10.30 for 2020.
The base minimum wage for them will reach $15 per hour by January 1, 2026.
Eight years from now, by January 1, 2028, workers who belong to these groups will receive the minimum wage inclusive of inflation adjustments that take place from 2024 to 2028, equalizing in this way the minimum wage with the main cohort of New Jersey workers.
With regard to workers agricultural workers, the base minimum wage will increase to $12.50 per hour by January 1, 2024, and no later than March 31, 2024, the New Jersey Labor Commissioner and Secretary of Agriculture will decide whether to recommend that the minimum wage for agricultural workers increase to $15 per hour by January 1, 2027, as specified in the bill.
In case they do not reach an agreement, a third member, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, will break the deadlock.
If there is a recommendation to disapprove of the scheduled increases or suggest an alternative approach, then the Legislature will have the ability to implement that recommendation by passage of a concurrent resolution.
Tipped workers will see an increase in their minimum wage from $2.63 an hour to $3.13 an hour. Restaurants need to ensure their employees make at least $11 an hour through a combination of wages and tips.
Latinx Newswire
