Minimum wage inches its way toward $15/hour as inflation cut buying power

New Jersey’s statewide minimum wage for most of the state’s poorest workers will increase to $14.13 per hour as of January 1, 2023, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

That is a $1.13 increase from 2022 but it still leaves people who earn the minimum wage and work full time unable to afford the basic necessities of life in the Garden State.

The change comes as a result of legislation passed in 2019, which mandated that the minimum wage increase on a yearly basis by one dollar or more.

Any increase greater than one dollar is the result of a substantial rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban wage earners and clerical workers.

Since inflation caused the CPI to experience such a significant increase this past year, the minimum wage hike for 2023 is greater than $1.

According to the 2019 law, the same method will be used to increase the minimum wage in 2024.

While this increase will impact most New Jersey employees earning minimum wage, it does not affect all of them. For seasonal and small employers, the minimum wage will increase January 1, 2023, to $12.93 per hour, $1.03 more than the previous year.

Agricultural workers who perform back-breaking work on farms for a piece-rate or regularly hourly rate basis will see their minimum wage increase to $12.01.

For tipped workers, the minimum wage will increase to $5.26. Employers also will be able to claim a tip credit of $8.87, which itself is a one dollar increase from this past year. 

Although the increases will not go into effect for another two months, employers need to be aware of the coming increases and plan accordingly.

The Wage Theft Act, also passed by the New Jersey Legislature in 2019, imposes heavy penalties on employers that fail to pay the required minimum wage.