Why does New Jersey need a minimum wage of $8.50?  The state's minimum wage was raised to $7.15 in 2006. But it had been left unchanged for 20 of the 25 years before that, while our cost of living, fourth highest in the nation, kept moving up. The state's Minimum Wage Advisory Commission, a bi-partisan committee that reports each year on the adequacy of the minimum wage, has agreed that the wage should be increased to $8.50. See the link to the right for its December 2008 report.

 

If the minimum wage is increased so much, why will indexing be necessary?  The Advisory Commission has also recommended indexing because it recognizes that a raised minimum wage will not help low-wage workers for very long unless it is adjusted automatically each year to hold its value. Ten other states now index their minimum wages for this reason.  

 

Doesn't New Jersey already have a minimum wage for tipped employees?  No. New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states with no tip wage on their books. If it were not for the $2.13 required for such employees under federal minimum wage law, New Jersey's tipped workers (including nearly 55,000 waiters and waitresses) could be forced to work just for tips. New Jersey should join the other 32 states that set their cash wage for tipped employees well above $2.13 to provide them with a dependable basic compensation. Our state should follow New York's example and guarantee that tipped workers receive at least 65% to 85% of the full state minimum wage. The Advisory Commission has recommended nearly that--a base wage for tipped workers set at the average level of those wages in the surrounding state, currently 53%.