A new minimum wage arrived with the new year in New Jersey.The increase from $10 to $11 an hour is part of a gradual increase to an eventual $15 per hour signed by Gov. Phil Murphy last February. The state’s minimum wage was $8.60 per hour when Murphy took office in 2018.
“New Jerseyans working full-time deserve fair, livable wages,” Murphy said. “With our second statewide minimum wage increase, we are following through on our commitment to give more workers the opportunity to join the middle class, which will strengthen our economy over the long-term.” Seasonal employers and those with fewer than six workers must pay a minimum wage of $10.30 per hour.
“Paying workers a fair wage for their work promotes economic and employment stability, and gives lower wage earners a chance to achieve economic independence” Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said. “It helps both employers and employees to have a workforce that feels adequately compensated and able to afford basic necessities such as rent, groceries, and electricity.” Approximately 192,000 workers in New Jersey make between $10 and $10.99 per hour, according to U.S. Census Bureau Monthly Current Population Survey data. Seasonal and small employers were given a longer timeline under the law to reach $15 per hour in order to lessen the impact on their businesses. Agricultural and tipped workers are guided by separate minimum wage timetables.
“This is the next step in my continued fight to elevate New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour with a multi-step plan that puts more take-home-pay into the hands of working people and more money into the state’s economy,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney, who authored the prior laws that increased the minimum wage as well as the constitutional amendment requiring cost-of-living increases. “Too many workers aren’t earning enough to make ends meet, but, that is changing for New Jersey residents and future generations, as we continue to gradually raise the minimum wage and help alleviate poverty across our great state,” Speaker Craig Coughlin said.
