New Jersey Minimum Wage Bill Advances

On February 23, 2012, the New Jersey State Assembly Labor Committee voted 6-2 to approve legislation (A2162, S3) that proposes to increase the New Jersey minimum wage rate from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour. As previously reported, in the February 2012 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority, the bill also calls for automatic future annual adjustments linked to the Consumer Price Index. The bill next will go before the General Assembly for additional consideration, and if signed into law, would take effect on July 1, 2012. Several related bills addressing minimum wage also are pending, including S607, which would similarly increase the minimum wage rate to $8.50 an hour but tie subsequent minimum adjustments to increases in the statewide weekly wage rate paid to all workers subject to New Jersey’s workers’ compensation laws.