Middlesex Health isn’t waiting for the state to raise its minimum hourly wage to $15.
The Middletown-based health system announced plans Tuesday to implement a $15-per-hour minimum wage by March 24, which it said will benefit 238 people in its roughly 3,500-person workforce.
Middlesex Health, formerly known as Middlesex Hospital, operates four main facilities and several others in Middlesex County and across the state’s shoreline.
Middlesex Health’s wage increase mirrors action taken by Hartford HealthCare (HHC) a month ago. HHC’s minimum hourly rate of $15 will benefit more than 2,400 workers statewide when it takes effect March 31.
Democrats in Connecticut are again pushing legislation in 2019 that would increase the state’s mandated salary floor from $10.10 to $15 by 2023.
The state last increased its minimum wage over a three-year period ending Jan. 2017, when it rose from $8.70 to $10.10.
Nearby states including New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey have adopted legislation to raise their minimum hourly wage to $15.
