Bill > A2162

This bill increases the minimum wage in New Jersey to $8.50 per hour, effective March 1, 2013, and then mandates annual adjustments to this rate based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W), as calculated by the federal government, with these adjustments taking effect on January 1 of each subsequent year. The bill also specifies that if the federal minimum wage rate, as set by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, is raised to a level higher than the New Jersey minimum wage, the state minimum wage will automatically increase to match the federal rate, and future CPI-W adjustments will be applied to this new, higher state rate. The existing law, which previously set minimum wage rates at specific intervals and included a provision for annual adjustments starting in 2013 based on a different CPI calculation, is being amended to reflect these changes.