Effective January 1, 2007, Florida's minimum wage will increase to $6.67 per hour. Currently, the state minimum wage is $6.40 per hour. (The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour.) The increase has been made in accordance with the Florida Constitution's provision establishing a minimum wage, which provides for an annual cost of living adjustment to be made to the minimum wage on September 30 of every year, to become effective January 1 of the following year. The Agency for Workforce Innovation makes this calculation, which is based on the federal consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the South Region for the 12-month period prior to September 1, 2006.
Also effective January 1, 2007, $3.65 will be the hourly minimum wage for tipped workers meeting eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Currently, under Florida law the rate for tipped employees is $3.38 per hour.
Florida's minimum wage only applies to those workers who are entitled to receive the federal minimum wage under the FLSA. The exceptions and exemptions to paying the minimum wage contained in sections 213 and 214 of the FLSA also apply to the Florida minimum wage.
Additionally, effective January 1, 2007, employers required to pay the Florida minimum wage must prominently display, in each establishment where workers covered by the Florida minimum wage are employed, a poster containing the Florida minimum wage. The Agency for Workforce Innovation will make a poster available for download, free of charge, on its web site. The poster should be available on December 1 or before and will contain the minimum wage rate effective the following January 1. Posting this poster will not excuse employers from posting the federal minimum wage poster. Thus, effective January 1, 2007, employers covered by the federal and Florida minimum wages will be required to display both posters.
If you have any questions regarding this issue or any other labor or employment related issue, please contact the Ford & Harrison attorney with whom you usually work.