With final passage of a new minimum wage law in Connecticut happening last week, it is only a matter of time – and likely only days – until it is officially ‘on the books’. Governor Ned Lamont has promised to sign the bill into law. In its final form, HB 5004, An Act Increasing the Minimum Fair Wage, provides that the current minimum of $10.10 will increase to $11 on October 1^st of this year and then increase an additional dollar every 11 months thereafter (September 2020, August, 2021, July 2022) until it reaches $15 on June 1, 2023. Subsequently, additional increases will be tied to the cost of living as determined by the federal Employment Cost Index calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The law also provides for increases to the tipped wage and creates a 90 day training wage at 85% of the minimum for workers that are 16 and 17 years of age. With Governor Lamont’s signature, Connecticut will become the seventh state to mandate a $15 pay floor for private employers, joining California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York in addition to the District of Columbia.