Florida workers organized with Fight for $15 rallies in support of a $15 minimum wage outside a McDonald’s in Tampa, Florida in August 2020. Credit: McKenna Schueler/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Florida’s state minimum wage is set to rise from $11 per hour for non-tipped workers to $12 per hour, effective Sept. 30, 2023, bolstering Florida’s status as the state with one of the highest state minimum wages in the U.S. South.

The scheduled increase comes as a direct result of a 2020 constitutional amendment approved by Florida voters in 2020. Because of that initiative, the state minimum wage — already several dollars higher today than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — rose to $10 an hour on Sept. 30, 2021, and $11 on Sept. 30, 2022. It will continue to increase by $1 each year on Sept. 30 until it hits $15 an hour on Sept. 30, 2026, rising with inflation thereafter.

The wage floor for tipped employees, under law, will also rise one dollar to $8.98 this year. Certain types of workers — including independent contractors, prisoners, minor league baseball players, workers with disabilities in certain workplaces, and others — are excluded from minimum wage requirements, based on exemptions outlined under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

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Florida’s minimum wage boost initiative, driven in 2020 by a coalition of labor, racial justice, economic justice and grassroots organizations (plus the coffers of personal injury lawyer and billboard troll John Morgan), garnered nearly 61% of the vote in 2020, just barely surpassing the 60% threshold needed in Florida to pass. It earned more votes in the so-called “red state” of Florida than either presidential candidate Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

The city of Orlando already pays public city workers $15 an hour minimum, and Orange County also has a $15 minimum wage in place for county workers. Under state law, local governments are forbidden from enacting higher minimum wage requirements for private companies within their localities.

Is it enough?

This year’s state minimum wage boost, as in other recent years, comes at a time of high inflation and a higher cost of living. Working full time as a minimum wage employee — earning roughly $22,880 annually if you earn $11 an hour — doesn’t get you far, especially in Florida’s red-hot housing market.

Josa Eve Alvarez, a spokesperson for Central Florida Jobs With Justice — which was a partner of the Florida for $15 coalition in 2020 — told Orlando Weekly that while their organization recognizes the significance of the trajectory towards a $15 minimum wage, “It’s crucial to understand that the economic landscape in Central Florida is presenting unprecedented challenges for minimum wage workers.”

“The rising cost of living, exacerbated by an affordable housing crisis, soaring utility costs, and mounting medical debt resulting from the pandemic, has left workers struggling to make ends meet,” said Alvarez. “We firmly believe that achieving a true living wage necessitates more than just a monetary target; it requires a holistic approach that considers the broader economic and societal factors at play.”

Alvarez explains that, locally, this might include the strategic allocation of federal funds (last week, Central Florida Jobs With Justice urged Orange County commissioners to use pandemic relief dollars to wipe out medical debt for residents), as well as “fostering an environment of collective activism and sustained political will.”

“The recent surge in unionizing efforts and strikes across the U.S. can be directly attributed to the stark reality that wages have not kept pace with the rapid inflation and increasing financial burdens,” said Alvarez. “By prioritizing the well-being of workers and ensuring they can meet their basic needs, we can create a more just society that empowers working families to lead fulfilling lives.”

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What to do if your boss doesn’t pay you minimum wage

First of all, check to make sure you’re not exempted from Florida’s minimum wage requirements.

Federal Fair Labor Standards Act exemptions (which Florida follows for its state minimum wage requirements) can be found here. Knowledge is power.

Also, document everything. If your employer is violating minimum wage requirements, you’ll need evidence/documentation to prove it in order to recover unpaid wages.

Minimum wage violations are a common form of wage theft, especially in Florida, where our state’s only designated enforcement mechanism has a notoriously bad record of actually enforcing minimum wage requirements.

But, if this does happen to you — or someone you know — you do have other options.

What you can do:

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Updated 9/25/23 to clarify that Florida has one of the highest state minimum wages in the U.S. South, not the highest, and that the federal DOL recovers millions of dollars each year in back wages, not hundreds of millions as previously stated.

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This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2023.

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.