Employers must pay their employees the hourly state minimum wage for all hours worked in Florida. The definitions of "employer," "employee" and "wage" for state purposes are the same as those established under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers of "tipped employees" who meet eligibility requirements for the tip credit under the FLSA, 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 ($6.79) minus the 2003 tip credit ($3.02), or a direct hourly wage of $3.77 as of January 1, 2008.

Employees who are not paid the minimum wage may bring a civil action against the employer or any person violating Florida's minimum wage law. The state attorney general may also bring an enforcement action to enforce the minimum wage. FLSA information and compliance assistance can be found here.

Florida Statutes require employers who must pay their employees the Florida minimum wage to post a minimum wage notice in a conspicuous and accessible place in each establishment where these employees work. This poster requirement is in addition to the federal requirement to post a notice of the federal minimum wage.

Florida's minimum wage poster is available for downloading in English and Spanish from the Agency for Workforce Innovation's website at http://www.floridajobs.org/resources/fl_min_wage.html.

The federal poster can be downloaded from the U.S. Department of Labor website at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/posters/flsa.htm.

On May 25, 2007, President George W. Bush signed legislation increasing the federal minimum wage. The new federal minimum wage increases in a three-step process as follows:

• $5.85 – July 24, 2007
• $6.55 – July 24, 2008
• $7.25 – July 24, 2009