As employers review these changes, they may need to check for local minimum wage law changes, too. There are 24 cities and counties with higher local minimum wages that took effect Jan. 1, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Wages are expected to tick up slightly in 2019, as employers begin to exhibit more confidence in the economy. Mercer’s 2018/2019 US Compensation Planning survey of 1500 organizations was updated in November from the original poll to reflect a slight increase in predicted salary budget increases for 2019. Results showed that the average total budget increase, including merit and promotional budgets, is expected to be 3.4%, up from the 3.2% increase projected six months ago.
