Overview
- The state’s scheduled six-year ballot plan has finished and the minimum wage is now $15 an hour with future adjustments set to follow an annual inflation index.
- The change raises the required cash wage for tipped workers to $11.98 an hour, with tips allowed to make up the $3.02 difference to reach $15.
- An estimated 1.2 million Floridians are affected and a full-time worker at the prior rate would see about $2,100 more per year from the increase.
- Economic advisers say higher labor costs could add tens of thousands of dollars a year for many small businesses, prompting firms to limit overtime, cut hours or pursue price increases and automation.
- Florida’s $15 minimum now sits well above the federal $7.25 floor and places the state roughly 13th among states by minimum wage level, a shift that could reshape hiring and pricing across hospitality and retail sectors.