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Highlands Today

Florida's Minimum Wage Increased 42 Cents

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 4, 2009

TALLAHASSEE (AP) - Florida's minimum wage increased to $7.21 an hour on New Year's Day, a jump of 42 cents for roughly 400,000 workers.

The increase, which is based on an annual consumer price adjustment, translates to an extra $16.80 for a 40-hour week.

The state's minimum wage went up to $6.15 an hour in 2005 after voters had approved a constitutional amendment the previous year. It has now increased another $1.06 since.

Supporters say the increase is desperately needed because Florida has the highest rate of job losses in the country and 10 percent of all Floridians are on food stamps.

Business groups, however, don't like the wage hike because they say it will limit the number of jobs available, especially during a recession.

The minimum wage applies to all employees in the state who are covered by the federal minimum wage. The current minimum wage represents a 6.2 percent change in the federal Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the South Region for the 12-month period prior to Sept. 1, 2008.

In deciding whether the federal or state minimum wage applies, federal law directs that businesses must pay the higher of the two, according to the Agency for Workforce Innovation. The Florida minimum wage will prevail over the federal rate until such time as the federal minimum wage becomes higher than the state rate. The federal minimum wage will increase to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. On this date, Florida employers must increase the minimum wage from $7.21 to $7.25.

Employers of "tipped employees" who meet eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the Fair Labor Standards Act may count tips actually received as wages under the FLSA. However, the employer must pay "tipped employees" a direct wage. The direct wage is calculated as equal to the minimum wage ($7.21) minus the 2003 tip credit ($3.02), or a direct hourly wage of $4.19 as of Jan. 1, 2009.

Sue McCullough, the general manager of the Sebring Olive Garden, said that although it will cost more to operate there will be no change in prices.

The restaurant has 40 servers who receive tips, McCullough said.

Highlands Today reporter Bill Rogers contributed to this story.

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