SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. -- The federal minimum wage rate in Delaware will increase from $10.50 to $11.75 on Jan. 1, 2023.
In July 2021, Delaware Governor John Carney signed Senate Bill 15, which pushed the wage increase into motion. Base pay will increase incrementally each year, from $11.75 in 2023 to $13.50 in 2024, and eventually reaching $15 beginning on Jan. 1, 2025.
On Friday, WBOC spoke to small business owners and hourly wager employees in Sussex County, Del. who expressed mixed opinions about the change.
"I actually really enjoy knowing that minimum wage is getting increased," says Natalie Hoffman, who has worked at Pizza King in Laurel for almost two year. "I feel like it's a good way to keep your employees here at the business and to make sure you have good employees. Really, everything about it."
However, small business owner like Wendy Wilkerson, who owns Seaford Florist, say they are already struggling to pay inflated expenses for materials and supplies. Wilkerson is afraid of the impact that increased wages could have on her business.
"It's going to be very hard, because we can't really dictate what our income is going to be and when your shop is so small, all of the expenses just continue to increase," says Wilkerson. "We have designers that have much, much more than you can ever afford to pay them, but then you have people who come in to help part time and when you're forced to pay them more than what you can really afford, I think it's gonna really impact us."
The federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour. Business owners in states with their own minimum wage, like Delaware, have to pay the higher of the two.
