BEYOND $15?

State’s minimum wage law has lever for inflation relief

With Connecticut’s lowestpaid workers in line for raises in six weeks, the state’s minimum wage could end up climbing beyond the $15 threshold lawmakers set for next year — courtesy of a little-noticed provision in an enabling 2019 law that links minimum hourly pay to a federal index that tracks payroll costs for employers.

In 2019, Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a Connecticut General Assembly bill to increase the minimum hourly wage to $15 by 2023.

An early version of that legislation included a mechanism to peg the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index that measures inflation. Lawmakers ended up scrapping that in favor of linking the minimum wage instead to the Employment Cost Index updated monthly by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Speaking this week in Hartford on budget adjustments for the upcoming fiscal year, Lamont referenced the pressures many workers continue to face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a spike in household costs like rent, vehicles and gas.

“For me, the No. 1 priority was getting people back to work, doing everything I can to keep this economy growing,” Lamont said Monday in Hartford. “Make sure it’s an economy that leaves nobody behind and it means real opportunity for everybody.”

In Connecticut, employers must pay at least $13 an hour with a few exceptions, including workers who make tips.

Despite struggles to fill open slots, some employers continue to offer starting pay below $15 for jobs requiring minimal qualifications.

Connecticut’s minimum wage rises a dollar starting in July, with one more hike scheduled for July 2023 to reach the $15 threshold that activists have been lobbying to make the national standard. Annualized, that will allow the lowest paid workers to earn an extra $4,000 on top of the $27,000 the $13

Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Child care workers demonstrate in March in Stamford, calling for the state to support higher wages in the industry.