New York’s minimum wage will increase in 2022. Here’s where

New York’s minimum wage is set to increase on December 31, with three downstate counties reaching the $ 15 minimum wage limit set by the state five years ago.

Minimum wage workers in Westchester County and in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island will see $ 15 an hour in the new year, on a par with workers in large New York City firms who have earned $ 15 an hour since the end of 2018.

Fast food workers across New York also earn $ 15 an hour, regardless of location.

Workers in the rest of the state will see an increase to $ 13.20 an hour – an increase of 70 cents from the current rate of $ 12.50 – December 31.

The increases are part of New York’s minimum wage package, adopted in 2016 by the state legislature and the then government. Andrew Cuomo with a five-year rising pay scale, shifted across the state based on location.

The increase comes amid the state’s ongoing economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which stifled economic growth and narrowed the labor market.

More about NY’s minimum wage:The division of the budget report states that NY’s minimum wage should increase by the end of the year

Rising wages in the midst of a pandemic

Last year, some lawmakers and business groups rejected the state’s decision to raise the minimum wage as planned, saying it would cripple struggling companies trying to get out of the worst pandemic.

At the time, the state argued that low-wage workers were some of the hardest hit in 2020, especially in the hospitality and retail sectors, and that they should therefore receive a boost in wages.

This year, in its annual review of the state economy to determine whether a wage increase is justified, the New York budget department again found that the low-wage sector was the hardest hit by the pandemic.

The state said that 1 million jobs, or 57% of the losses in the private sector, were affected in the three industries where the minimum wage workers are most concentrated: retail, healthcare and hospitality.

“It makes sense to raise the payroll now and continue to support New York’s families while providing a predictable way forward for businesses,” Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in a statement in September, following the publication of the budget department’s review. “With today’s action, we continue the work of rebuilding with justice and fairness.”

Reardon noted that many employers already paid above the minimum wage due to the high demand for labor in New York and across the nation.

Nationally, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in April, requiring a minimum wage of $ 15 per hour for federal entrepreneurs from January 30, 2022.

Includes reporting from US TODAY Network Government and Politics Editor Joe Spector.