New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 12 - LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 56 - WAGE AND HOUR
Subchapter 3 - MINIMUM WAGE RATES
Section 12:56-3.3 - Statutory minimum wage rate for specific years; labor on a farm

(a) Every employee engaged on a piece-rate or regular hourly rate basis to labor on a farm shall, effective January 1, 2024 , be paid not less than $ 12.81 per hour or the minimum wage rate set by section 6(a)(1) of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1), whichever is greater.

(b) For the period from January 1, 2020 through January 1, 2024, on an annual basis, on or about September 30, the Department shall, through a public notice in the New Jersey Register, revise the minimum hourly wage set forth at (a) above, so as to be the greater of either an amount based on any percentage increase during the one-year period of August of the prior year through August of the current year of the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W, U.S. City Average), as released by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor statistics, or the following:

(c) For the period from January 1, 2025 through January 1, 2027, on an annual basis on or about September 30, the Department shall, through a public notice published in the New Jersey Register, revise the minimum hourly wage set forth at (a) above, so as to be the greater of either an amount based on any percentage increase during the one-year period of August of the prior year through August of the current year of the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W, U.S. City Average), as released by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the following:

(d) For January 1, 2028, on or about September 30, 2027, the Department shall, through a public notice published in the New Jersey Register, revise the minimum hourly wage set forth in (a) above by the same amount (not percentage) as the increase in the minimum hourly wage from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2028, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1, plus one-third of the difference between $ 15.00 per hour and the minimum hourly wage in effect on January 1, 2027, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.

(e) For January 1, 2029, on or about September 30, 2028, the Department shall, through a public notice published in the New Jersey Register, revise the minimum hourly wage set forth in (a) above by the same amount (not percentage) as the increase in the minimum hourly wage from January 1, 2028 to January 1, 2029, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1, plus one-third of the difference between $ 15.00 per hour and the minimum hourly wage in effect on January 1, 2027, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.

(f) For January 1, 2030, on or about September 30, 2029, the Department shall, through a public notice in the New Jersey Register, revise the minimum hourly wage set forth in (a) above by the same amount (not percentage) as the increase in the minimum hourly wage from January 1, 2029 to January 1, 2030, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1, plus one-third of the difference between $ 15.00 per hour and the minimum hourly wage in effect on January 1, 2027, for employees covered under N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1.

(g) Beginning January 1, 2031, on an annual basis, on or about September 30, the Department shall revise the minimum hourly wage set forth in (a) above based on any percentage increase during the one-year period of August of the prior year through August of the current year of the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W, U.S. City Average), as released by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Annually, the Department shall, through a public notice published in the New Jersey Register, provide the new CPI-W, U.S. City Average, adjusted minimum hourly wage.

(h) The Department shall, no later than September 30 of each year, publish a notice, as set forth in (b), (c), (d), and (e) above, on the Department's website, http://www.nj.gov/labor/.

(i) The method for determining the minimum hourly wage rates set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above may be subject to change pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a 4(d)(3), which directs the Commissioner of the Department and the Secretary of Agriculture not later than March 31, 2024, to issue a recommendation either approving the method for determining increases set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above, disapproving the method for determining increases set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above, or suggesting an alternative to the method for determining increases set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above; and which states that the method for determining the minimum hourly wage rates set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above shall take effect unless the Commissioner of the Department and the Secretary of Agriculture issue a recommendation either disapproving the method for determining increases set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above or suggesting an alternative to the method for determining increases set forth in (c), (d), (e), and (f) above, and the Legislature, not later than June 30, 2024, enacts a concurrent resolution approving the implementation of the recommendation of the Commissioner and the Secretary of Agriculture.