Minimum wage is going up across the board in New Jersey July 1 under a bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed in February to increase the statewide hourly rate to $15 an hour by 2024.
Beginning Monday, most workers will see their hourly rate go up from $8.85 to $10 an hour; on Jan. 1, 2020 it will increase to $11 an hour, and grow another $1 each January until it tops out at $15 an hour.
The tipped-worker minimum wage goes up to $2.63 today, with gradual increases until it reaches $5.13 an hour by 2024. Employees must still earn the minimum wage, either by tips or by the business owner making up the difference.
Businesses that hire disabled workers can receive tax breaks under the new minimum wage law. If a business must pay a disabled employee more in the current year than in the previous year because of the wage increase, that employer could count the difference as a credit against the taxes the employer already owes.
For seasonal and small business employees – that is, businesses with no more than five workers – the minimum wage goes up to $10.30 an hour on Jan 1., 2020. It will reach $15 an hour on 2026.
Agricultural workers will see their wages go up to $10.30 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020, topping out at $12.50 an hour by 2024, with potential further increases coming down the pipeline.
The law also allows employers to pay a worker a so-called “training wage” of 90 percent the minimum wage for the first 120 hours of work, starting on Jan. 1, 2020
