In 2004, Floridians voted to add a minimum wage provision to the Florida Constitution, which increased the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour. The amendment also required annual adjustments to the wage based on inflation. This means that employers in Florida have to pay their employees at least this amount per hour. If someone thinks their employer is not paying them enough, they can sue them in court. If they win, they can get the money they were owed, plus extra money as a penalty, and the employer has to pay for the employee’s lawyer. They might also be able to get their job back or stop the employer from doing it again. The state can also sue the employer and make them pay a fine. The employee has four years to sue for not getting enough pay, or five years if the employer was doing it on purpose. The Florida Minimum Wage Amendment makes it illegal for employers to retaliate against any person for exercising their rights under the amendment. This includes actions like filing a complaint or helping someone else assert their rights. The state legislature has the power to make changes to the minimum wage rate and extend coverage to more employers or employees. They can also create more penalties for violating the amendment. So, if you speak up about your rights under this amendment, no one can punish you for it. The Florida Minimum Wage Amendment provides for higher wages and benefits for employees. It also says that it won’t limit the government from creating other laws for higher wages. If any part of the amendment is found to be unconstitutional, only that part will be affected, not the whole amendment. There are still questions about how the amendment will be applied, like if all employees have to be paid the minimum wage and if punitive damages can be awarded. Some bills have been proposed to answer these questions, but they have not been passed yet. The failed legislation in Florida tried to make sure that only people who should get paid minimum wage under federal law would also get paid the state minimum wage. It also tried to limit the amount of money people could get in a lawsuit for not getting paid minimum wage. The legislation did not pass, but even without it, we can look at federal law for answers to questions about the state minimum wage. It’s not really necessary to have the extra state law. The only thing that might be helpful is if the state made a rule that people have to tell their employer 15 days before they sue for not getting paid minimum wage. We’ll have to see if the state makes any new laws about this in the future. This is a list of rules and laws related to labor and employment. It includes sections of the Florida Constitution and the Fair Labor Standards Act. There are also references to specific court cases and bills. Robin Greiwe Midulla is a lawyer who represents employers in labor and employment law matters. She received her law degree from Stetson College of Law. This information was provided by the Labor and Employment Law Section, with F. Damon Kitchen as chair and Frank E. Brown as editor.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/floridas-new-minimum-wage-provision-an-overview-of-the-amendment-to-the-florida-constitution/
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