When it comes to the minimum wage, cities and states across the nation have recently made remarkable strides, with workers struggling to make ends meet in otherwise difficult positions now finding themselves with slightly larger checks at the end of each pay period.
Indeed, lawmakers from Hawaii and Minnesota to Michigan and Vermont all enacted legislation raising their respective minimum wage rates during the 2014 legislative session. Here in the Sunshine State, however, the issue of raising the state’s minimum wage has not been raised in Tallahassee for quite some time.
As we’ve discussed on our blog before, the current minimum wage here in Florida currently sits at $8.05 per hour with annual increases based on the cost of living. While this is well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25, it is still significantly lower than some of the new minimum wage rates now being introduced in other states.
As it turns out, two state lawmakers are now looking to change that, as Senators Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) and Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) are sponsoring a bill calling for the state’s minimum wage to be raised to $15 per hour.
While the two concede that getting the measure to pass will likely prove to be a challenge, they believe it will nevertheless help get the issue back on the radar of the state legislature, and perhaps result in the minimum wage rising to at least $9 or $10 per hour.
It should be noted that this isn’t the only action to be taken on this issue, as there is currently an effort underway to get a constitutional amendment increasing the minimum wage to $10 per hour on Florida’s 2016 ballot.
Stay tuned for updates …
If you have questions or concerns regarding whether your rights under the wage and hour laws have been violated, consider speaking with an experienced legal professional as soon as possible.