University employees making the state minimum wage saw an increase in their hourly pay from $15.69 to $16.35 beginning on Jan. 1, 2025. 

This increase is mandated by HB 5004, passed by the Connecticut state legislature in 2019. The law required that, beginning in 2024, the state minimum wage be tied to the federal employment cost index, a measure that tracks the annual change in the cost of labor. This year’s 4.2% minimum wage increase, which reflects the growth of the federal employment cost index of the same amount, is the second time the minimum wage has been raised to reflect rising costs. 

In a press release from Sept. 27, 2024, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, who signed the bill into law, expressed his continued support for the wage increase. According to Lamont, the bill reflected a necessary investment into Connecticut workers.

“This law that we enacted ensures that as the economy grows, the wages of low-income workers can grow with it,” Lamont said in the press release. “This is a fair, modest adjustment for workers who will invest their earnings right back into our economy and support local businesses in their communities.” 

Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz echoed the sentiment of Lamont, arguing that the wage increase was imperative to address a growing income gap. In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau identified Connecticut as the second-most unequal state based on income inequality data.

“For too long, while the nation’s economy grew, the income of minimum wage workers stayed flat, making already existing pay disparities even worse, especially for the already economically disadvantaged,” Bysiewicz said in the press release. “This is a policy that benefits everyone and provides more financial security to families, especially women and people of color.”

Wesleyan employees making the minimum wage should have seen an increase in their pay as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to Associate Director for Campus Employment Allison Soden. 

“We collaborated with [the University Finance department] to communicate the state minimum wage increase to the campus community,” Soden wrote in an email to The Argus. “Additionally, we worked with our colleagues in IT, Payroll, and [the University Human Resources department] to ensure that all pay rates below the new minimum wage were adjusted accordingly.”

According to Soden, although employers can pay workers above minimum wage, many student workers make minimum wage and have thus seen their pay rise.

“The majority of on-campus student positions start at the minimum wage,” Soden wrote. “Each department sets wages based on its budget and the nature of the role, which means some positions may offer higher pay depending on responsibilities and experience required.”

Students with minimum wage jobs will automatically receive the wage increase, according to an email to the student body from the Gordon Career Center. 

One notable exception to the wage increase is for employees of Bon Appétit, the company that manages the University’s dining program. In 2023, student workers at Bon Appétit successfully unionized, securing a Collective Bargaining Agreement with yearly wage increases through Jan. 1, 2027.

Resident District Manager for Bon Appétit Michael Strumpf, who has worked at the University since 2008, confirmed this year’s wage increase in an email exchange with The Argus.

“As of 1/1/2025, the starting wage has increased to $21.25,” Strumpf wrote. “[In] the fall of 2023 Wesleyan student workers for Bon Appétit unionized and are now covered under a Collective Bargaining Agreement that has yearly wage increases through January 1, 2027…at that time a new contract will be negotiated.”

However, Strumpf wrote that unlike other campus employers, the Collective Bargaining Agreement prevents Bon Appétit workers from earning additional wage increases, such as experience-based raises, until the contract expires in 2027.

As the spring semester has begun and student workers have returned to campus, they have welcomed the wage increase.

“I am happy that the increase in minimum wage can help student workers support themselves better,” research assistant Sophia Samant ’27 said.

Miles Pinsof-Berlowitz can be reached at mpinsofberlo@wesleyan.edu.

Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.