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As of Saturday, Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage in Massachusetts will rise 75 cents from $13.50 an hour to $14.25.
The new wage translates to $29,640 a year for employees working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.
The minimum wage for tipped workers who make more than $20 in tips monthly will also rise to $6.15 an hour on Jan. 1.
Officials noted that the Massachusetts minimum wage bill also established a paid family and medical leave program for all workers in the state.
The pay hike comes as part of a plan enacted by state lawmakers in 2018 to increase the hourly minimum wage for all employees to $15 an hour by 2023, matching the planned pay grade for some nearby states in the region.
In Massachusetts, once the wage hike takes effect, it will be nearly double the federal wage, which has been stagnant at $7.25 hourly for more than a decade.
Though a boon for minimum wage employees, at least one Massachusetts watch group is concerned about it as the state sees a record rise in inflation due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Consumers are dealing with the worst inflation spike in 40 years. Nearly every product is more expensive and Massachusetts is going to exacerbate the rise in costs by mandating that our state pay the highest price for minimum wage labor in New England,” Paul Diego Craney, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance said in a statement.
“This increase will be passed down to the consumers, and ultimately it will serve as another economic blow to the poor and middle class.”
Minimum wage in Massachusetts will be increased to $14.15 on Jan. 1, 2022, and up to $15 on Jan. 1, 2023.
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