The minimum wage paid to many hourly workers in New Jersey will rise automatically to $15.92 on Jan. 1, under the latest cost-of-living adjustment required by the state Constitution.
A 43-cents-an-hour increase announced by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development on Wednesday comes after a multiyear ramp-up to a $15 minimum wage concluded last year.
It also follows a mandatory analysis of the latest federal inflation data by state officials charged with setting the hourly wage rate on an annual basis.
“This increase will provide vital support to all Garden State workers by making the dream of a livable wage reality,” state labor commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said in a statement released with Wednesday’s minimum wage announcement.
However, not every low wage, hourly worker in New Jersey will be paid the $15.92 hourly rate now due to go into effect in 2026.
New Jersey’s wage laws allow for exceptions to the general minimum pay for several groups of workers. Among them are people employed by seasonal and small businesses, as well as farmworkers.
A different set of rules is also in place for service workers who earn a “tipped” wage, such as bartenders and waiters.
For years, New Jersey’s minimum wage was reset annually using language in the state Constitution that requires regular adjustments based on changes in the rate of inflation.
The rate of the annual adjustment is based on an analysis of any changes to the federal government’s consumer price index....
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