HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut's minimum wage is facing a change once again. Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday a new state minimum wage of $15.69 is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
The minimum wage increase only six months after it was raised to $15 is a result of the state law Lamont signed in 2019 to incrementally increase the minimum wage. The law requires five incremental increases in the minimum wage between 2019 and 2023.
“The minimum wage for many years remained stagnant, making existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security," Lamont said in a statement. "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.”
Beginning on New Year's Day, the state's minimum wage will be adjusted to the U.S. Department of Labor's calculation of the employment cost indent for the 12-month period ending on June 30 of the preceding year.
Connecticut Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo reports that the employment cost index increased by 4.6% over the twelve-month period ending on June 30, 2023, accounting for a $0.69 increase to the state’s minimum wage that will become effective on January 1, 2024.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said in a statement that the wage increase marks a "significant step in ensuring a fair, livable baseline of income for those who work as the state makes it’s first-ever economic indicator adjustment."
"We will continue to do everything we can to improve the quality of life for all the residents who call Connecticut their home," she said.
Bartolomeo said the increase will benefit 160,000 to 200,000 minimum wage workers in Connecticut.
According to the Current Population Survey, approximately 60% of minimum wage earners in Connecticut are women, Lamont's office said.
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