Bill > A15

Introduced Session

This bill amends and supplements the "New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law", P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), to incorporate into that law the provisions of Article I, paragraph 23 of the State Constitution approved by ballot initiative in 2013 to increase the State minimum wage, and provide further increases in the minimum wage beyond what is required by the Constitution. The bill incorporates into the minimum wage law the constitutional provision which has resulted in the increase of the minimum wage rate to $8.85 per hour on January 1, 2018, and which increases the rate on January 1 of each subsequent year by any increase which occurs in the consumer price index for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) during the 12 months prior to the September 30 before that January 1. The bill also incorporates into the law the provision of the Constitution that whenever the federal minimum wage exceeds the State minimum wage, the federal minimum wage will be adopted as the State minimum wage and the increases based on increases in the CPI-W will be applied to the federal minimum wage rate, except that if in a subsequent year the rate set by this bill exceeds the federal rate, the rate shall again be the rate set by the bill. Finally, the bill provides for certain increases in the State minimum wage which may be greater than the increases resulting from the provisions of the Constitution. The bill provides that, except for certain workers specified by the bill, the minimum wage rate will be increased to $9.50 per hour on July 1, 2019, to $11.00 per hour on January 1, 2020, to $11.55 per hour on January 1, 2021, and then increased by $1.15 per hour on January 1 of each year from 2022 to 2024, reaching a level of $15.00 per hour in 2024. The exceptions indicated by the bill are: 1. That for employees of any employer with less than 10 employees, for employees under 18 years of age for farm laborers, and for employees working in seasonal employment, other than employees whose employers are provided credits for tips by the bill, the minimum wage rate will be increased to $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2020, to $10.35 per hour on January 1, 2022, to $10.70 per hour on January 1, 2023, to $11.10 per hour on January 1, 2024, to $11.70 per hour on January 1, 2025, to $12.45 per hour on January 1, 2026, to $13.20 per hour on January 1, 2027, to $14.10 per hour on January 1, 2028, reaching a level of $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2029; and 2. That with respect to tipped workers, every employer who employs a worker who customarily and regularly receives gratuities or tips will be entitled to a credit for the tips received by the worker against the hourly minimum wage rate paid to the worker in the following amounts: after December 31, 2018 and before July 1, 2019, $6.72 per hour; after June 30, 2019 and before January 1, 2020, $7.37 per hour; during calendar year 2020, $7.87 per hour; during calendar year 2021, $7.42 per hour; during calendar year 2022, $7.57 per hour; during calendar year 2023, $8.72 per hour; during calendar year 2024 and subsequent calendar year, $9.87 per hour. 3. That, commencing January 1, 2020, a training wage of not less than 90 percent of the minimum wage may be paid to an employee enrolled in a qualified training program. The training wage may be paid during first 80 hours after hiring the employee for employment in an occupation in which the employee has no previous similar or related experience. The employer may not utilize employees paid the training wage in a way that contributes to any displacement of current employees or existing apprenticeship programs. The employer is required to make a good faith effort to continue to employ the employee after the training wage expires and may not hire an employee at the training wage without a reasonable expectation of subsequent regular employment. Minimum wage increases provided by the Constitution based on CPI-W increases will continue to be applied in all cases in any year in which the increase set by the bill are less than the CPI-W increase, including all years after 2024. The bill defines "seasonal employment" as employment for which, during the previous calendar year, not less than two thirds of the employer's gross receipts were received in a continuous period of not more than thirteen weeks, and "small employer" as an employer who employed less than 10 employees for every working day during a majority of the calendar workweeks in the current calendar year and the preceding calendar year. The bill also creates a "Task Force on Wages and State Benefits" charged with evaluating how changes in minimum wage levels may affect the eligibility for a variety of State services and benefits, and how the combination of changes in minimum wage and eligibility standards may impact living standards. The task force is directed to produce annual reports of its findings, including any recommendations for adjustments in eligibility standards for the benefits, changes in benefit subsidy rates, and other relevant reforms, to ensure that the combination of minimum wage increases and State services and benefits are coordinated effectively so as to further advance the overall goal of raising the living standards of working families. Finally, the bill directs the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to issue, by September 30, 2024, a report evaluating the impacts on employers and employees of the bill's increases of the minimum wage rates for farm laborers and the bill's credits provided to employers for tips received by their employees.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Daniel Benson (D)*,  Craig Coughlin (D)*,  Joseph Egan (D)*,  Thomas Giblin (D)*,  Angela Mcknight (D)*,  Gabriela Mosquera (D)*,  Stephen Sweeney (D)*,  Britnee Timberlake (D)*,  Cleopatra Tucker (D)*,  Clinton Calabrese (D),  Ralph Caputo (D),  Annette Chaparro (D),  Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D),  Lou Greenwald (D),  Jamel Holley (D),  Mila Jasey (D),  Angelica Jimenez (D),  Gordon Johnson (D),  Patricia Jones (D),  Robert Karabinchak (D),  Yvonne Lopez (D),  John McKeon (D),  Pedro Mejia (D),  Paul Moriarty (D),  Raj Mukherji (D),  Nancy Pinkin (D),  Nellie Pou (D),  Annette Quijano (D),  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D),  Bill Spearman (D),  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D), 

Approved P.L.2019, c.32. (on 02/04/2019)