The New Jersey Legislature declined to increase the state minimum wage from $7.15 per hour before ending its session for the extended summer recess, despite a strong December 21, 2007 recommendation by the State of New Jersey Minimum Wage Advisory Commission that the state minimum wage be immediately increased to $8.25 per hour (the poverty threshold wage for a three-person family in 2007).
However, on July 24, 2008, the federal minimum wage increased from $5.85 to $6.55. This is the second of three increases provided by the federal Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. The third federal minimum wage increase to $7.25 (which will be above New Jersey’s state minimum wage, in the event it is not raised in the interim) will become effective on July 24, 2009.
Note: This article was published in the August 2008 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.
