New Jersey Minimum Wage Will Increase to $8.44 in 2017 By: MEAadmin | 10.07.16 | Compensation

The minimum wage in New Jersey will increase from $8.38 per hour to $8.44 per hour effective on January 1, 2017, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, in a “Notice of Administrative Changes” published on September 30, 2016.

New Jersey Administrative Code 12:56-3.1 is amended to reflect the cost-of-living increase.

N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1 provides that, on an annual basis, on or about September 30, the Department is to revise the minimum hourly wage rate “based on any percentage increase during the one-year period of August of the prior year through August of the current year of the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W, U.S. City Average), as released by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.” The rule further provides that the Department shall, annually, (1) through a public notice published in the New Jersey Register, provide the newly adjusted minimum wage rate, and (2) no later than September 30 of each year, publish the public notice on the Department’s website.

The change for 2017 is based on a 0.66% increase in the cost of living for the period August 2015 through August 2016. That is, the CPI-W, U.S. City Average, in August 2015 was 233.366, and in August 2016 it was 234.909. Consequently, the change in the index over the one-year period equals 1.543, or an increase of 0.66 percent (1.543/233.366×100). Using as a base for the calculation the current New Jersey minimum hourly wage rate of $8.38 (since as of this date, $8.38 is greater than both the minimum hourly wage rate set by section 6(a)(1) of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the rate provided under N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a4), a 0.66 percent increase (rounded to the nearest penny) is $0.06, yielding an adjusted State minimum hourly wage rate, effective January 1, 2017, of $8.44.

Source: New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, “Notice of Administrative Changes,” September 30, 2016, http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/forms_pdfs/lwdhome/MinWage.pdf.

Reposted with permission from Wolters Kluwer.

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