What is the Minimum Wage in Florida in 2021?
The minimum wage in Florida is $8.65 (per hour) effective January 1st, 2021. Florida’s minimum wage for servers and other tipped employees is $5.63. In comparison, the federal minimum for employees in the US is $7.25, and the lowest hourly rate for tipped employees is $2.13. See how Florida compares to other states by viewing the 2021 minimum wage by state map.
The current minimum hourly rate is a result of the slight increase from the 2020 wage rate of $8.56. The increase by nine cents from January 2021 happened due to the constitutional amendment from 2004 that determined the wage increases to be influenced by the cost of living. As a consequence, there have been some amendments to the minimum wage laws in Florida prior to the beginning of 2021 [1].
When will the Next Minimum Wage Increase Happen in Florida?
In addition to the recent hourly rate increase, Florida’s minimum wage will experience a series of consistent increases starting with a big jump to $10 effective on September 30th, 2021. This significant change was caused by a constitutional amendment set to eventually reach the state lowest wage rate of $15 per hour by 2026. The increases were determined to take effect yearly rising just by $1 to ensure a steady change [1].
What is the History of Florida’s Minimum Wage?
Looking at the State Labor Law records and going back to the early 2000s, Florida didn’t have a state minimum wage [4]. The federal lowest rate of $5.15 was effective from 2000 till 2004. Later in 2005, Florida enacted a state minimum wage of $6.15.
Having experienced a series of small increases, Florida continued beating the federal minimum for the next 5 years. In 2010, Florida’s state wage became the same as the lowest federal rate.
In 2012, the lowest wage increased to $7.67 passing the federal minimum. It continued rising consistently to reach over $8 per hour in 2015 (see the infographic above) and up to the recent rates of $8.56 in 2019/2020 and $8.65 in 2021.
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