New Jersey voters have approved a constitutional amendment to raise the state minimum wage by $1, to $8.25 an hour. The new minimum wage rate goes into effect January 1, 2014.
The amendment also establishes automatic cost-of-living adjustments to the minimum wage rate each year. Increases in the cost-of-living will result in an increase in the minimum wage rate, measured by the Consumer Price Index every September.
New Jersey becomes the 11th state to provide automatic cost-of-living increases in the minimum wage rate. The other states are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development plans on releasing an updated version of the Wage & Hour Law Abstract posting with the new minimum wage rate closer to the January 1, 2014 effective date. Stay tuned!