By Adam Uzialko
Business.com, Updated Jan 23, 2023

Employees who earn enough to get by improve performance and overall business.

Paying a “living wage” requires more than just meeting state and federal minimum wage requirements. Living in certain communities is more expensive and requires people to earn more to sustain basic life necessities. ...

“When you’re setting something like the federal minimum wage, you want to consider the averages,” said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an advocacy group that supports gradually raising the floor. “When talking federally, it’s a floor that’s...

By David A. Fahrenthold and Talmon Joseph Smith
New York Times, Jan. 17, 2023

For many cooks, waiters and bartenders, it is an annoying entrance fee to the food-service business: Before starting a new job, they pay around $15 to a company called ServSafe for an online class in food safety.

That course is basic, with lessons like “bathe daily” and “strawberries aren’t supposed to be white and fuzzy, that’s mold.” In four of the largest states, this kind of training is required by law, and it is taken by workers nationwide.

But in taking the class, the...

By Karen Craigo
Springfield Business Journal, Jan 16, 2023

In November 2018, nearly two-thirds of Missouri voters approved Proposition B, an initiative that substantially increased the state’s minimum wage. The hike raised base pay to $12 per hour from $7.85 – a 53% increase – over five years, reaching that target on Jan. 1.

Many workers have celebrated the hike, and some business owners have, too. In December, Andy Faucett, owner of Bambinos Cafe, shared his satisfaction with the increase in a statement put out by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network...

By Samantha Bernt
1011 Now, KOLN, Lincoln, Jan. 15, 2023

Nebraskans voted and now they’re seeing the impacts. In January, the state’s minimum wage went up from $9 to $10.50 with increases coming for the next three years.

On Sunday, 10/11 NOW spoke with a local business to see how the hike in wages impacts them.

Since voters approved the initiative, the state’s minimum wage will increase by $1.50 each year until 2026, where it will cap off at $15 an hour.

In Downtown Lincoln, a Novel Idea Bookstore has seen many minimum wage increases over...

By Victor Williams
New York Weekly, January 5, 2023

Minimum wage: A new year has begun, and news emerged that workers would receive a higher minimum wage this year. Workers in more than half of all states have been calling for higher wages for years, as the federal minimum wage has remained the same since 2009: $7.25 per hour. ...

Holly Sklar, the CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said that raising minimum wages can also increase consumer demand.

As a result, local economies will be able to recover.

“Putting needed raises in minimum wage workers’...

By Mark Hamstra
Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 4, 2023. Also in Supermarket News, Restaurant Hospitality, Retail Wit.

... The Seattle-Tacoma area has the nation’s highest minimum wage at $19.06, but several other cities have minimum wages approaching that level, and three states — Washington, California and now Massachusetts — have minimum wages of $15 or higher. Washington, D.C., also has a minimum wage of $16.10, higher than any state, and it is scheduled to increase to $17 per hour on July 1.

The state with the biggest minimum wage hike this year was Nebraska, which went...

By Ben Terzi
Avenue News, Jan 4, 2023. Also Dundalk Eagle.

As the beginning of the new year starts, some workers will notice an increase of pay with the new minimum wage rising to $13.25 per hour. ... The latest bump in minimum wage pay is part of an ongoing effort to reach $15 per hour, which will take place on Jan. 1, 2025 but some lawmakers are looking to expedite the process. ...

In a press release prior to the minimum wage increase, the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition said increasing wages will...

By Doug Banks
Boston Business Journal, Jan 4, 2023

New minimum wage

The new minimum wage in Massachusetts is now $15 per hour, part of the so-called Grand Bargain law that passed in 2018. Already, some groups are saying that inflation has caused that longtime goal, once again, to fall short of being a livable wage.

Massachusetts isn’t alone in raising the minimum hourly wage this year. In fact, 23 states raised their minimum wages in the new year, and four more states have increases scheduled later this year, according to an analysis by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an...

By Matthew Fazelpoor
NJBiz, January 3, 2023

The ringing in of 2023 brings an increase to the minimum wage for most Garden State employees from $13 to $14.13 per hour. The raise is part of legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in 2019 that calls for the state’s minimum wage to gradually increase to $15 per hour by 2024. ...

One group supporting the increase is Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which says hikes across the country will boost consumer spending; strengthen local economies; and improve employee hiring, retention, productivity and customer service.

In a press release...

By Ben Werschkul
Yahoo News, Jan 3, 2023

With the federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour, unchanged for 13 years and counting, states across the country continue to take matters into their own hands. The latest to join the party is Nebraska, where voters passed an initiative in November’s elections to gradually raise the minimum wage there to $15 per hour by 2026. ...

The bumps are the fruit of years-long efforts from activists and one of the groups, called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, argues that the increases also make business sense by boosting...

By Natalie Wallington
Kansas City Star, Jan 3, 2023

Sunday didn’t just ring in the new year: It also marked an increase of Missouri’s minimum wage to $12 an hour, up from $11.15 last year. Kansas’ minimum wage has stayed at the federal level of $7.25 per hour. Missouri’s increase marks the final step of a multi-year plan to raise the state’s minimum wage that began when voters approved it in 2018. Moving forward, the minimum wage will increase and decrease at the same rate as inflation. ...

“As a family business, we’re glad to...

More Perfect Union, Video, Jan 3, 2023

Featuring Senator Jessica Ramos, Amalgamated Bank Vice President Maura Keaney and workers. Excerpt:

Maura Keaney: I hope that business will speak out, as Amalgamated bank is, in support of the minimum wage increase. In 2019, Amalgamated Bank increased its minimum wage to 20/hr. That was after an increase to 15/hr during the fight for 15 campaign.

We think it’s the right thing to do. We also think that it’s good business. Recruiting, retaining talent means being a good employer, and part of being a good employer is making sure...

By Jacob Owens
Delaware Business Times, January 3, 2023

With the start of the new year, Delaware quietly continued its march toward a $15 minimum wage with an increase of $1.25 an hour. ...

The bill spurred a contentious debate ... But others, including business owners, said the increase will help attract workers to Delaware with the promise of higher wages, therefore decreasing turnover and allowing Delaware to remain competitive with surrounding states.

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an advocacy group, pushed for the hike and organized some local small business owners to push...

By Rebecca Heckel
KLKN-TV (Channel 8 ABC), Jan 2, 2023

LINCOLN – A new year means more money for many Nebraskans after more than 300,000 voters said yes to raising the minimum wage during this last election.

“I’m very happy that my fellow Nebraskans chose to do the right thing,” said Cinnamon Dokken, owner of “A Novel Idea” bookstore in Lincoln.

The initiative was on the November ballot. The first phase began on Jan. 1, raising the minimum wage from $9 to $10.50 an hour.

“Whenever wages have increased, revenue has increased along with it and we’ve been...

By Kent Masing
International Business Times, Jan 2, 2023

As the U.S. welcomes the new year, millions of workers in several states will see their minimum wage increase. ...

In September, a report by the Urban Institute showed that increasing the nationwide minimum wage to $15 would help 56 million workers. Kevin Werner, a research associate at the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center, said raising the minimum wage would lead to a decline in poverty and help workers in general.

Holly Sklar, the chief executive officer of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, echoed...