October 9, 2006

ISSUE 1136

FLORIDA MINIMUM WAGE TO RISE

The Agency for Workforce Innovation recently announced that Florida’s minimum wage will be $6.67 per hour effectively January 1, 2007 for all hours worked in Florida. This represents an increase of 27 cents over the current state minimum wage of $6.40 per hour. Florida’s minimum wage was created in a constitutional amendment approved by voters on November 2, 2004, and covers all employees in the state covered by the federal minimum wage.

Pursuant to the language of the state constitutional amendment, the Agency for Workforce Innovation is to perform an annual calculation to establish a new minimum wage each year. The constitution also requires the adjusted minimum wage to be published. The increase in the minimum wage this year represents a 4.2 percent change in the federal consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the South Regional for the 12-month period prior to September 1, 2006.

Employers must pay their employees a wage not less than the amount of the hourly state minimum wage for all hours worked in Florida. The definitions of “employer,” “employee,” and “wage” for state purposes are the same as those established under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (LSA).