House, Senate OK Raising Minimum Wage to $15 per hour over 4.5 years

The state House and Senate have both now approved legislation (HB 5004) to increase the state's current $10.10 minimum wage to $15/hour by June 1, 2023. Gov. Ned Lamont has said he will sign the bill.

​Below are the provisions of the bill. The following is based on an analysis prepared for legislators:
 
HB 5004 An Act Concerning Minimum Fair Wage
This bill increases the state’s minimum hourly wage from its current $10.10 per hour to:
(1) $11.00 on October 1, 2019;
(2) $12.00 on September 1, 2020;
(3) $13.00 on August 1, 2021;
(4) $14.00 on July 1, 2022, and
(5) $15.00 on June 1, 2023.
Beginning January 1, 2024, it indexes future annual minimum wage changes to the federal Employment Cost Index (ECI).
 
Tip Credit
The bill freezes the employer’s share at its current $6.38 for hotel and restaurant staff and $8.23 for bartenders. It does so, starting on July 1, 2019, by requiring the labor commissioner to recognize a tip credit that equals the difference between the applicable minimum wage and the “employer’s share,” which the bills sets as $6.38 for hotel and restaurant staff and $8.23 for bartenders (the same amounts as required under the current $10.10 minimum wage).
Table 1: Hotel and Restaurant Employees’ Tip Credit under the Bill
(the Tip Credit is the difference between the minimum wage and the employer's share)
Effective Date             Minimum Wage             Tip Credit          Employer’s Share
Current Law                     $10.10                           $3.72                        $6.38
10/1/19                             $11.00                           $4.62                        $6.38
9/1/20                              $12.00                           $5.62                        $6.38
8/1/21                               $13.00                           $6.62                        $6.38
7/1/22                               $14.00                          $7.62                         $6.38
6/1/23                               $15.00                          $8.62                         $6.38

Table 2: Bartenders’ Tip Credit under the Bill
Effective Date             Minimum Wage             Tip Credit          Employer’s Share                                      
Current Law                      $10.10                         $1.87                         $8.23
10/1/19                              $11.00                         $2.77                         $8.23
9/1/20                               $12.00                         $3.77                         $8.23
8/1/21                                $13.00                        $4.77                         $8.23
7/1/22                               $14.00                         $5.77                         $8.23
6/1/23                               $15.00                         $6.77                         $8.23
 
Training Wage
The bill also changes the “training wage” that employers may pay to learners, beginners, and people under age 18. Current law generally allows employers to pay these employees as low as 85% of the regular minimum wage for their first 200 hours of employment.
 
The bill eliminates the training wage exceptions for learners and beginners — and limits the training wage to only people under age 18, except emancipated minors. Thus, it requires learners and beginners who are at least age 18 to be paid the full minimum wage. It also requires the training wage to be the greater of $10.10 or 85% of the minimum wage and allows employers to pay the training wage to people under age 18 for the first 90 days, rather than 200 hours, of their employment.