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New Jersey's Governor Phil Murphy earlier this week signed a
sweeping law that will eventually increase New Jersey's minimum
wage to $15 per hour by 2024 for most employers. One of the
Governor's signature campaign promises has now been fulfilled,
making New Jersey the third most-populous State in the country to
enact a $15 minimum wage rate.
New Jersey's current minimum rate is $8.85 per hour, a rate
that just increased on January 1, 2019 under the existing law that
increases the minimum wage annually based on inflation. This new
law signed this week will increase the minimum wage significantly
on July 1, 2019 to $10.00 per hour. Each July 1 after that –
again for most employers — the minimum wage will increase by
at least $1.00 per hour until July 1, 2024 when it will be at least
$15 per hour.
We say "at least" because the law also provides that
the minimum wage could increase by more than $1 per hour in any
year where inflation would require more than a $1 per hour
increase. Practically speaking, however, that type of increase
would require a highly aggressive annual inflation rate of 7% to
10%. So, unless there are highly unusual rates of inflation, the
minimum wage rates in New Jersey in the future should be:
July 1, 2019: $10 per hour
January 1, 2020: $11 per hour
January 1, 2021: $12 per hour
January 1, 2022: $13 per hour
January 1, 2023: $14 per hour
January 1, 2024: $15 per hour
After July 1, 2024, as with the current law, the minimum wage
rate will increase according to the rate of inflation as
established by the national Consumer Price Index.
The new minimum wage law applies to virtually all New Jersey
employers. Seasonal employers, employers with 5 or fewer employees,
and employers of farm laborers are given an additional 2 years for
most of the changes. Those employers would see an increase to
$10.30 on January 1, 2020, with $0.80 increases each January 1
until 2025, and then an increase to $15 per hour on January 1,
2026. Interestingly, this new law also makes New Jersey's
minimum wage laws applicable to all governmental employees for the
first time.
According to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development, approximately 100,000 workers in New Jersey earn
minimum wage now. Estimates are that as many as 1 million New
Jersey workers will eventually be affected by these increases by
2024. Numerous States and cities nationwide have passed laws to
increase minimum wage rates, including several states that are also
increasing the rate to $15 per hour, such as California and New
York. New York and Delaware are currently at $11.10 per hour, with
provisions to increase those over time. Pennsylvania remains at the
federal level of $7.25 per hour.
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guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
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