On Sept. 18, Governor Ned Lamont announced at a press conference that effective Jan. 1, 2024, the Connecticut minimum wage will be increased from $15.00 per hour to $15.69 per hour.
State legislation signed by Lamont in 2019 allowed for five incremental increases in the minimum wage between 2019 and 2023, followed by future adjustments tied to the percentage change in the federal employment cost index.
“The minimum wage for many years remained stagnant, making existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security. That is why several years ago I signed a bill into law enacting several increases in the minimum wage and then ultimately attaching it to federal economic indicators so that as the economy grows the wages of low-income workers can grow with it. This is a fair, modest increase and the money earned will be spent right back into our own economy and support local businesses,” Lamont said.
The first increase came into effect on Oct. 1, 2019, when minimum wage could not be less than $11 per hour. Effective Sept. 2020, it was increased to $12 per hour. Effective Aug. 2021, it was bumped up to $13 per hour. On July 1, 2022, the minimum wage increased to $14 per hour. In June 2023, it became $15 per hour and in Jan. 2024 it will increase to $15.69 per hour.
The state’s minimum wage is adjusted according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s calculations of the employment cost index for the 12-month period ending on June 30 of the preceding year. The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor reviews this percentage change, then announces any adjustments by Oct. 15 of each year. The minimum wage adjustments become effective on the next Jan. 1.
The latest 12-month period ending on June 30, 2023, the CT Labor Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo reported that there was a 4.6% increase for the employment cost index. This translates over to a $0.69 increase in minimum wage.
Bartolomeo said, “This increase will benefit Connecticut’s 160,000 to 200,000 minimum wage workers and help offset some of the effects of national economic challenges, such as higher energy costs and interest rates. I commend Governor Lamont and the legislature for enacting this important wage reform.”
State Sen. Mae Flexer said at the press conference, “Families who work so hard to take care of themselves and keep a roof over their head won’t have to come to the state capitol to fight for the increase that they’ve earned.”
“It’s going to be automatic, and this automatic increase is going to make a real difference for so many of our neighbors here,” she said.
The Current Population survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics concluded that around 60% of minimum wage earners in Connecticut are women.
“A lot of people think that the minimum wage is something that teenagers make but, no, there are so many adults out there in our state that are trying to support their families,” Flexer said. “We’re providing financial security to our families, especially our women and people of color who tend to be our minimum wage workers.”
Other states conduct their minimum wage through other national indicators, but Connecticut is the only state that uses the Employment Cost Index to influence minimum wage.
“You work a full day, you deserve a fair wage,” said Lamont.