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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
George Griego cares about his employees.
"I care about you as long as you work well for me. I'll treat you very well,” said the restaurant owner. “That's just the way of society. That's just the way it is in any type of business."
Everyone who works at the Central Grill in Albuquerque makes above the state's minimum wage.
“Some way more than that,” Griego said, “because they're valuable.”
But Griego doesn't like one thing.
"There's not a business owner anywhere that appreciates government coming in and telling them what to do,” he said.
Come Jan. 1, Griego and all business owners in the state are being told they have to pay all of their workers at least $12 an hour — an increase of .50 cents under the state's minimum wage law.
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"So, it's a significant increase that has been happening and graduated over a number of years,” said Reilly White, an associate professor of finance at the University of New Mexico.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the law in 2019 and it increased the minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $12 an hour over three years.
Before the bill was passed, New Mexico had one of the lowest minimum wages in the country. Now, it is one of 17 states to have a minimum wage of $12 an hour or more.
The Land of Enchantment is also one of 15 states to increase its minimum wage in 2023.
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