Alaska’s minimum wage workers will get a small raise starting Jan. 1 before a larger increase takes effect six months later.

The state’s minimum wage will rise 18 cents to $11.91 an hour at the start of the new year. This is the result of a ballot measure passed a decade ago, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Wednesday.

The larger increase will come July 1, when the minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $13 an hour, the result of a ballot measure approved by voters this year. The minimum wage is scheduled to rise again to $14 per hour in 2026 and to $15 per hour in 2027, and will be further increased adjusted for inflation in subsequent years.

The 2014 ballot initiative also included an inflation adjustment. The upcoming 18 cents per hour increase was calculated based on that expert, the department said. The calculation used the consumer price index for the Anchorage metropolitan area, which rose 1.5% in 2023, the ministry said.

Alaska’s minimum wage also indirectly applies to employees under state law. The relevant law requires that workers be paid at least twice the amount that minimum wage workers would earn for a full workweek. Starting Jan. 1, the minimum wage for employees will rise from $938.40 to $952.80 for a 40-hour week, the ministry said.

This year’s Ballot Measure 1, in addition to raising the minimum wage, also mandates a paid sick leave system in which employees’ vacation days are accrued over time and prohibits employers from requiring their employees to attend political or religious gatherings that do not involve anything have to do with their professional duties.

Supporters of this year’s ballot measure said the wage increases and other benefits were overdue in Alaska and would benefit the economy.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, Alaska will continue to have the lowest minimum wage of all U.S. West Coast states, even with the $13 hourly rate starting July 1.

Opponents, including trade groups representing restaurant and bar owners, tourism businesses and oilfield service companies, protested the ballot measure, arguing that it would hurt businesses.