Minimum wage workers in New Jersey have a reason to celebrate the New Year – they are all getting raises. New Jersey is among 13 states that are raising their minimum wages beyond the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour today. New Jersey’s minimum wage is increasing by $1 per hour to $8.25.

About 250,000 workers will receive this long-awaited pay raise. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that about 49,000 New Jersey residents earn minimum wage, but it has been estimated that 254,000 currently earn less than $8.25 an hour.

While a pay raise is something to celebrate, minimum wage workers in New Jersey will continue to earn less than $20,000 a year. Many workers’ rights advocates argue that this is not enough to live on, particularly in our high-cost state. The minimum wage bump will provide an extra $922 a year to full-time workers currently earning less than $8.25 an hour.

Nationwide, about 3.6 million people were paid the federal minimum wage or even less in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though it is illegal for any employer to pay an employee less than minimum wage.

It is important for New Jersey to have a fair and reasonable minimum wage, and it is also important that wages and hours laws are enforced. A significant problem is that minimum pay workers are not properly compensated. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that as many as 40 percent of fast food stores fail to pay their employees minimum wage or correct overtime rates.

Some employers steal wages from workers by forcing them to work “off the clock” and failing to pay them time-and-a-half for work in excess of 40 hours in one week. Workers whose employment rights have been violated should be aware that they may be able to obtain backpay and hold their employers accountable.

A change in the law is no better than the employers’ will to abide by it and the employees’ drive to see it enforced.

Source: USA Today, “13 states raising pay for minimum-wage workers,” Paul Davidson, Dec. 30, 2013

Source: The Record, “NJ minimum wage gets $1 bump on Jan. 1; 250K getting a raise,” Kathleen Lynn, Dec. 30, 2013