An employer may not employ an employee at a rate less than the rates required by this section. [PL 2025, c. 232, §1 (NEW).] Beginning January 1, 2026, the minimum hourly wage for an employee is $14.65 per hour, increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living, measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of 2025 over August of 2024 in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum hourly wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. On January 1, 2027 and each January 1st thereafter, the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding that year in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum hourly wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. If the highest federal minimum hourly wage is increased in excess of the minimum hourly wage in effect under this section, the minimum hourly wage under this section is increased to the same amount, effective on the same date as the increase in the federal minimum hourly wage, and must be increased in accordance with this section thereafter. [PL 2025, c. 232, §1 (NEW).]
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