Lawmakers reach agreement on legislation for $15 per hour minimum wage

State lawmakers have reached an agreement on legislation for $15 per hour minimum wage.
Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced the agreement Thursday afternoon.
Under the legislation, the base minimum wage for New Jersey workers would increase to $10 per hour on July 1, 2019. The minimum wage would then increase to $11 per hour by Jan. 1, 2020 and then would increase by $1 per hour every Jan. 1 until it reaches $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2024.
“Today, we are taking a historic step to provide more than one million New Jersey workers a stronger foothold in the middle class,” Gov. Murphy said in a statement. “No one working a full-time job should ever live in poverty.”
Seasonal workers and employees at small businesses of five workers or less would receive $15 per hour minimum wage by Jan. 1, 2026. By Jan. 1, 2028, workers in these groups will receive the minimum wage inclusive of inflation adjustments that take place from 2024 to 2028, the lawmakers said.
Raising the state minimum wage to $15 per hour was a major part of Murphy’s campaign for governor and something that he wanted to complete in his first year in office. However, disagreements between Murphy and other state lawmakers prevented this from happening in 2018.