Report by Paula Antolini, July 30, 2021, 7:33AM EDT
(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont is reminding Connecticut residents that – as a result of legislation he enacted two years ago scheduling several increases in the minimum wage over a five-year period – the minimum wage in the state will increase from the current rate of $12.00 per hour to $13.00 per hour beginning on Sunday, August 1, 2021.
“Nobody working a full-time job should live in poverty,” Governor Lamont said. “For too long, while the nation’s economy grew, the income of the lowest earning workers has stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse and preventing hardworking families from obtaining financial security. This is a fair, modest increase, and the money earned by workers will go right back into our own economy, supporting local businesses and our communities.”
“Every single worker in Connecticut deserves dignity,” Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said. “This progress towards Connecticut’s $15 an hour minimum wage will lift our state up and ensure that nobody working a full-time job lives in poverty. I join Governor Lamont in applauding this milestone for working families in Connecticut, and I share his continued commitment to the hardworking women and men of our state.”
Signed into law by Governor Lamont in 2019, Public Act 19-4 requires the minimum wage to increase five times over a five-year period, from the then-rate of $10.10 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 public act requires the minimum wage to become indexed to the employment cost index, which is calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, and for the first time in Connecticut the rate will grow according to economic indicators.
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