{"id":3559555,"date":"2026-03-13T10:30:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?p=3559555"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:51:43","slug":"nyc-lawmakers-target-nations-highest-minimum-wage-as-restaurants-warn-of-job-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/economy\/2026\/nyc-lawmakers-target-nations-highest-minimum-wage-as-restaurants-warn-of-job-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Lawmakers Target Nation\u2019s Highest Minimum Wage as Restaurants Warn of Job Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A bill introduced in the New York City Council would make the city\u2019s minimum wage the highest in the country, though it would still be below what some consider to be a living wage, The Wall Street Journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/hospitality\/new-york-city-minimum-wage-800eb107?mod=hp_lead_pos7\">reported<\/a> Thursday (March 12).<\/p><div\r\n\tid=\"article-paywall-overlay\"\r\n\tclass=\"d-none\"\r\n>\r\n\t<div id=\"article-paywall-content\" class=\"my-4\">\r\n\t\t\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\" data-wpcf7-id=\"2699550\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3559555#wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init pymnts-article-paywall-form\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<fieldset class=\"hidden-fields-container\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"2699550\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"6.1.5\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f2699550-o1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" 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marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/privacy-policy\/\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https:\/\/pymnts-com-develop.go-vip.net\/terms-conditions\/\">Terms and Conditions<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p><input id='hiddenPath' type='hidden' name='path' value='' \/><input type='hidden' name='userDeviceId' id='userDeviceId' \/><input type='hidden' name='pageTitle' id='pageTitle' \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id='formButtonRow' class='container mt-1 px-0'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-dark text-uppercase py-2 px-5 small\" id=\"theSubmitButton\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"post_id\" value=\"3559555\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"source\" value=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/economy\/2026\/nyc-lawmakers-target-nations-highest-minimum-wage-as-restaurants-warn-of-job-cuts\/\" \/><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"212\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"article-paywall-hidden-content\">\r\n\t\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/legistar.council.nyc.gov\/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7944787&amp;GUID=8A9D75D7-55AE-4F9A-B411-69904826532F\">bill<\/a>, which was introduced Tuesday (March 10), would set the hourly minimum wage for employers with more than 500 employees at $30 by 2030 and for those with fewer than 500 employees at $29 by 2031, according to the website of the New York City Council.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New York City\u2019s minimum wage is currently $17 per hour, according to the WSJ report.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other cities whose minimum wages are among the country\u2019s highest include Seattle, at $21.30 per hour, and Los Angeles, whose minimum wage for hotel and airport workers will rise from $20.32 to $30 by 2028, the report said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the New York City bill becomes law, the minimum wage would still fall short of what the Economic Policy Institute calculates to be a living wage in the city. While the organization says a single person needs an annual income of $83,262 for a living wage in the New York metro area, the bill\u2019s minimum wage would provide $62,400, per the report.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One business owner interviewed by the WSJ said a wage increase would make it impossible for people to open new restaurants. Another, who owns five restaurants and a cocktail lounge, said he would have to cut a dozen jobs and require customers to place orders on their phones. A third business owner said the higher minimum wage would be fair and would help employers retain workers.<\/p><div id=\"pymnt-876254143\" class=\"pymnt-content pymnt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 50px;\"><p style=\"text-align:center\">Advertisement: Scroll to Continue<\/p><script async type=\"text\/javascript\" id=\"dianomi_context_script\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dianomi.com\/js\/contextfeed.js\"><\/script> \r\n<div class=\"dianomi_context\" data-dianomi-context-id=\"4329\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysra.org\/\">New York State Restaurant Association<\/a> President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/melissa-fleischut-71736210\">Melissa Fleischut<\/a> said in the article: \u201cWe feel like we\u2019re at a tipping point with consumers. There\u2019s only so much you can charge for a slice of pizza or a cheeseburger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">City Council Member <a href=\"https:\/\/legistar.council.nyc.gov\/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=259828&amp;GUID=F43613E6-D8AF-4467-8966-2AA060D83C8D\">Carmen N. De La Rosa<\/a> said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cndelarosa\/status\/2031766250796285993?s=43&amp;t=HX_ju0vgQxqA9hav5Ebegg\">post<\/a> on X that the bill would ensure \u201cthe pockets of NYC\u2019s workforce match the reality of today\u2019s economy and rate of inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A separate New York City law requiring companies to offer grocery delivery workers the same <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/news\/delivery\/2025\/instacart-sues-new-york-city-to-block-new-grocery-delivery-laws\/\">minimum pay<\/a> that restaurant delivery workers are eligible for, went into effect in January.<\/p>\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>\r\n\twindow.pymntsAllowedArticleCount = 2;\r\n\twindow.pymntsPostID = 3559555;\r\n<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bill introduced in the New York City Council would make the city\u2019s minimum wage the highest in the country, though it would still be below what some consider to be a living wage, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (March 12). Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3560375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17114],"tags":[45554,12708,4480,9981,9206,133069,4589,7190,5299],"class_list":["post-3559555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","tag-editors-picks","tag-jobs","tag-legislation","tag-minimum-wage","tag-news","tag-pymnts-news","tag-restaurants","tag-wages","tag-whats-hot"],"acf":{"suggested_titles":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NYC Lawmakers Target Nation\u2019s Highest Minimum 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