Connecticut Minimum Wage Increases; Mystic Museum Exceeds State Minimum

The minimum wage in Connecticut increases from $12.00 per hour to $13.00 per hour effective Sunday, August 1, 2021, the latest step in a five year plan to move the state’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour on June 1, 2023.

As part of a “strategy to recruit and retain employees,” Mystic Seaport Museum has announced it will pay all regular and part-time staff a minimum wage of $15 — two years ahead of a state mandate.

Additionally, any current full or part-time staff members who earn between $15 and $20 per hour will receive a $1 per hour increase, also effective August 1, according to Museum officials.

The move is in advance of the minimum wage increases mandated by state legislation, which requires a $13 minimum wage effective on Sunday, August 1, 2021 with a gradual increase to $15 by June of 2023.  The legislation requiring the increasing minimum wage, over a five year period, was approved in 2019, when the minimum wage in Connecticut was $10.10 per hour.

These changes provided the Museum with an opportunity to review its current employment categories and to strengthen its commitment to providing more long-term opportunities for career progression at the institution, officials pointed out.

“We are committed to employing our staff at higher wages now to create opportunities for people to develop long-term careers at the Museum and to continue to build a team of employees that is flexible and versatile with the skills to maintain the high level of programming we deliver every day,” said Peter Armstrong, president of Mystic Seaport Museum.

“We are confident that by providing better-paying jobs, with real benefits, we will attract and retain employees who are committed to working to make the Mystic Seaport Museum experience the best it can be,” Armstrong added.

Training is a key part of an employee’s experience at the Museum, including an expanded traditional skills program launching in the fall, officials noted. The Museum currently employees 176 people, with about a half-dozen open positions, including Visitor Services Specialist, Contracts Coordinator and General Maintenance Technician.

The salary initiative is part of a continued strategy to employ expert staff to help people understand where their own sea story lies and to connect them with the maritime history of America, officials explained.

Mystic Seaport Museum, founded in 1929, is described as the nation’s leading maritime museum. In addition to providing a multitude of immersive experiences, the Museum also houses a collection of more than two million artifacts that include more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the world.

Connecticut’s minimum wage law requires that beginning on January 1, 2024, the minimum wage will become indexed to the employment cost index, which is calculated by the U.S. Department of Labor, and for the first time in Connecticut the rate will grow according to economic indicators.