Gov. Phil Murphy today called on the Legislature to pass a $15-an-hour minimum wage bill before they break for the holidays, and NJBIA again warned that such a law would make it harder for small businesses to compete, and in some cases, survive.
“We’ve got three weeks,” Murphy said. “That’s plenty of time for the Legislature to get bills through committees, on to the floors of both the Senate and Assembly, and on to my desk.” The last legislative voting session before 2019 is scheduled for Dec. 17.
Raising the minimum wage enjoys a lot of support among legislators, but many of them have recognized that not all jobs should be covered by the $15 threshold. NJBIA supports exemptions for seasonal workers, teenagers, farm workers and others.
“Any responsible pathway to raising the minimum wage should take into consideration the impact on our small business owners, which drive our economy and support our communities,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka in a statement released following the press conference. “Many of our members have already told us any significant increase in the minimum wage will result in a reduction of staff, hours and/or benefits, or an increase in prices or automation.”
NJBIA also is urging policymakers to look at the minimum wage issue in a more comprehensive way. Low-wage workers are often low-skilled workers. The way to improve their circumstances is through job training and education. Increasing their skills will also put low wage earners in a position to increase their wages naturally, and it will benefit both the employer and the employee.
The governor is killing small businesses. First paid sick leave,now this? Not only does this raise payroll but it raises workers comp premiums. You got my vote once Murphy but I promise you won’t get it again.
Thanks Jessica!
You’re one of the reasons we’re in this position!!!
$15.00 minimum wage, legalization of pot and NJ being a sanctuary state. Great agenda Governor, I miss Christie every day!!
ME TOO!!!
How is this NOT Common Sense?!!! If minimum wage raises- our economy is screwed! It will trickle down to consumers!
I do not know if You remember but Murphynwas running on raising taxes. Because of You and people
Like You who Did not want to listem we are all dealing with this stupid socialistic freak. Next time
Could You Please educate yourself before You go to vote
Or do not vote ar all
Our firm established paid sick leave 40 years ago, and it worked. As far as the minimum wage is concerned, we hear the same prophets of doom every time it is proposed to be increased. It is going to destroy thousands of jobs, and kill all the mom & pop business. And what happens when it is finally put in place? Employment increases and the economy expands. It’s econ 101. When you put more money in more people’s pockets, they go out and spend it, stimulating the economy. And that nonsense that the only people working for minimum are high school kids saving up for the prom? The average age of workers in the fast food industry is 30.
$15 minimum wage is wrong. This means that all illegal immigrants who work in NJ illegally (and everyone knows this is the norm) and send there earnings back to their country to support their families will prosper without paying “real” taxes like all of us citizens do. Will put my small business out of business within 5 months! Wake up Murphy, think and listen to the people who pay your salary.
I’m dumbfounded by how out of touch this governor is with any business let alone small business. If you can get paid $15 per hour and get benefits for a cushy job like swiping a bar code at Target, then people aren’t going to accept $15 per hour to be a cook at a restaurant, to mop floors, to collect tickets at the ferry, to mow a lawn, to read a meter, to paint, etc., or anything else that requires a bit more labor or has less than perfect weather conditions. So all those wages will have to go up over $15 per hour. The cost of everything in the state will go up. Families will cut spending. Businesses will cut spending. And of course businesses will look for way to automate tasks to eliminate jobs. Unemployment will rise.
I agree with the Governor. Why kill small businesses in two years when you can kill them now. Only the morons in this state can complain about the high cost of taxes, housing and transportation and then go out and keep re-electing the party that does nothing but spend. I guess that means that our state has more takers than givers. Pathetic.
He’s at it again! Gov. Murphy and his new “Department of Socialism and Profit Prevention” are doing everything possible to make New Jersey business as non competitive as possible – and what a great job they are doing! $15 hour minimum wage, Paid Sick Leave, additional airport fuel taxes, looking to weasel business with higher taxes to screw them due to Trump’s tax cuts and the list goes on. $15 per hour minimum wages will really hurt small business who, in the end, will have to pass the costs along to the consumer. In the end it, Murphy’s politics will hurt everyone and every business in New Jersey.
The Minimum Wage sounds so compassionate yet works against the very people it’s supposed to help. The Minimum Wage was never intended to provide income to support one’s family. The Minimum Wage is the point of entry into the workforce for teenagers to develop responsibility, learning to manage their earnings, savings and spending. Inflationary… remember, many labor contracts are benchmarked to the Minimum Wage. On the flip side, enterprises of all stripes keep a close eye on costs. The cost of Labor is a key driver. When costs exceed that which is affordable, enterprises seek alternative and lower cost methods and procedures to perform the job at-hand. A classic example is McDonald’s implementing the use of kiosks for the Customer entering their orders. These computers do not call in sick, demand benefits, etc etc. The marketplace best determines and self-regulates compensation. If you’re not paying a competitive wage, unlikely you will attract or retain worthy employees.
Well put!!!
It is very clear that Gov. Murphy, and State Senator Sweeny are looking to end most small business in New Jersey. By raising the Minimum Wage to $15 from it’s current $8.60 which is a 74% increase you also will have to deal with all the employees who currently make more than $8.60, say a supervisor who is now making $10.25 and hour you will have to raise that salary to $17.87 an hour and the list goes on.
In a very simplified analysis if your current payroll is made up of only minimum wage employees and your yearly payroll excluding taxes is $50,000 that payroll will jump to over $87,000 at $15/hour. Where is that extra $37,000 coming from?
Most businesses would need about $100,000 additional business to clear $37,000, where is that coming from.
It is just not possible to make up that kind of shortfall when margins are already razor thin, and this will cause many businesses to close their doors, if that’s what you want go ahead and pass this bill.
No body will start a business or add personnel with this minimum wage. The Governor doesn’t care about NJ! All he and his group care about is themselves. PLEASE get these people voted out!
Gov. Phil Murphy is the typical short-sighted politician. Small businesses are the backbone to any economy, generating more jobs than big box businesses; but their success requires being able to turn a profit.
Not all employees are created equal nor is their contribution to the bottom line. Instead, legislating a $15 minimum wage will ultimately add to the middle class struggles, dominoing into the costs of living.
Just raise the State Tax rate. This is about raising more money for them to spend but disguising it as something else. Tell the truth about this issue. Unfortunately they are NOT even worrying about the unintended consequences. Just raise the State Tax rate.
I hope the governor gets his wish for Christmas and all small businesses start leaving the state
It will be interesting to see if Murphy takes the blame when thousands get laid off.
We pay most of our employees more than 15.00 per hour
We are doomed in this state. If the governor wants to solve the affordability in the state he needs to find a way to reduce taxes and the cost of living, therefore more people can afford to live and retire in this train wreck of a state
Other areas of the country that have raised the minimum to 15 now wish they didn’t as jobs and business left the area. Businesses can’t raise prices to compensate for such an increase and the consumer can’t pay the price increases necessary if they do. It’s easy to blame business and bring in programs it’s much harder if you have to pay for it and try to keep doors open. Entry level jobs will become a thing of the past and no one will hire inexperienced job seekers because of the wage. The State of course will stay in business and just keep raising taxes to pay for the mess they have created.
Socialist and Liberals try to fix economic problems with other peoples money. Why be surprised? They can not handle the large amounts of income the State receives from all the over taxed NJ residents now. The State is in dept and they want more. Sounds like a third world country. NJ is not like most of America. We need a Trump for governor!
I am hoping groups like the NJBIA can help clarify if a change in minimum wage also automatically generates wage increases for public worker unions & prevailing wage statues in NJ. Of course those workers easily average many times the proposed minimum wage but it would shine light on the true motivation behind this change.
I hire kids fresh out of trade school, hire them for more then minimum wage ($10 hr.) (I have even paid to send them to classes), then increase their pay as they learn more skill through experience so that by the time they make $15.00 or more they have the experience to get that or more when they go off to their next job or even start their on business (which is getting harder to do). At $15.00 an hour I will start only hiring experienced people. As any body will tell you training some one in the metal working field can be quite time consuming and mistakes they make while learning can be expensive. That in my opinion is the real problem as that there will be less training of skilled labor. The biggest problem that kids I talk to is having experience to get the work they want to do. The serious one don’t mind less pay for the knowledge, they all had no problem earning less, so they could learn. That what I did, I learned so when I could go on my own I had the skills I needed to know to succeed.