Has the CT minimum wage for tipped workers remained the same for years?

The minimum wage has remained the same since 2017 for employees who receive tips in Connecticut.

That year, the state increased the minimum wage from $6.07 to $6.38 for hotel and restaurant employees and from $7.82 to $8.23 for bartenders. The rate has remained there since. Tips are calculated into these workers’ wages.

The minimum wage for all other workers in Connecticut, meanwhile, increases annually per a 2019 law — Public Act 19-4, which tied the yearly adjustment to economic indicators like the federal employment cost index.

The act also safeguards the minimum wage, which means that if the federal wage equals or is above Connecticut’s, the state rate will be 0.5% higher.

The most recent minimum wage increase of $0.59 from $16.35 per hour to $16.94 will become effective on Jan. 1, 2026.