| Photo by Alex Kotliarskyi on Unsplash
HARTFORD, CT – Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase from $14.00 per hour to $15.00 beginning Thursday, June 1, 2023.
The change results from legislation Governor Ned Lamont signed into law four years ago that schedules several gradual increases in the minimum wage to occur over five years.
“No one should work a full-time job and live in poverty,” the governor said. “For too long, while the nation’s economy grew, the income of the lowest earning workers stayed flat, making existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security. That is why four years ago, I signed a law implementing several gradual increases in the minimum wage and then ultimately connecting it to the employment cost index. This is a fair, modest increase, and the money earned will be spent right back into our own economy and support local businesses.”
Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz echoed the governor’s remarks saying the minimum wage was established to provide a fair, livable baseline of income for those that work. However, increasing costs, varied inflation levels, and stagnant wages have resulted in lower-paid workers falling further behind.
“This gradual increase has helped uplift individuals and families, especially people of color and working mothers. Lamont and I remain committed to ensuring that nobody working a full-time job is living in poverty,” said Bysiewicz.
Lamont signed Public Act 19-4 in May of 2019, requiring the minimum wage to increase five times over five years, from the then-rate of $10.10 per hour to:
- $11.00 on October 1, 2019;
- $12.00 on September 1, 2020;
- $13.00 on August 1, 2021;
- $14.00 on July 1, 2022; and
- $15.00 on June 1, 2023.
Ultimately, beginning on January 1, 2024, that same law requires the minimum wage to become indexed to the employment cost index, which the U.S. Department of Labor calculates. The rate will grow according to economic indicators for the first time in Connecticut.
–With Ricky Rillera/PDM
