Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution that will gradually increase the Florida minimum wage over the next six years. At the time of passage, the Florida minimum wage was $8.56. Florida’s minimum wage will increase to $10 in September 2021, and then will increase $1 per year until it reaches $15 in 2026. After the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour, it will be adjusted annually for inflation. Florida joins eight other states where the minimum wage will be $15 per hour in the future: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. The Florida Policy Institute reviewed the impact of increasing the minimum wage, and found that it would increase the wages of 2.5 million workers in Florida, most of whom are women and people of color, and that it would also decrease the wage gap between men and women.According to a study by the Congressional Budget Office, incrementally raising the minimum wage to $15 across the country would lift more than 17 million people out of poverty.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-ways-that-restaurants-cheat-their-workers-20190816-aiooy2g7gnb3rmog2yjir6bemq-story.html

Innkeepers, motel managers, hotel managers, recreational vehicle (RV) campground managers, “work campers,” and property managers who live on the property they also manage frequently are paid less than the minimum wage and denied overtime pay.  Motel, hotel, and RV campground owners often employ individuals or couples to manage small properties and provide a “free” room or “lot rent.”  Often, however, the free lodging benefits the owner, allowing the owner to have an employee on call onsite, a is not primarily provided for the convenience of the employee.  Property managers, “work campers,” and innkeepers living onsite frequently work long hours seven days per week. They also may be required to handle guest issues throughout the night.  A motel/hotel/RV campground owner, however, cannot escape the overtime and minimum wage laws simply by providing lodging.

For a motel, hotel or RV campground owners to be entitled to pay an employee less wages in exchange for providing a room or lodging (i.e., a wage credit or lodging deduction), the employer must, among other things, charge no more than the employer’s “reasonable cost” of the lodging, the lodging must be “customarily furnished” by the employer, the lodging must be provided primarily for the benefit or convenience of the employee, and the lodging must be accepted voluntarily by the employee.  

Motel, hotel, and campground employers often fail to meet all the requirements for taking a wage credit for lodging. Owners of these properties often charge their onsite managers the retail value of the room or lot rather than their actual, reasonable cost. The reasonable cost can be no more than the actual cost to the owner of the lodging provided. The law does not allow employers to profit from the lodging deduction. Motel/hotel/RV campground owners also often fail to keep accurate records of the cost of providing the lodging to the employee. Moreover, if the employee is asked to live on the property so that the motel or campground can have someone on call 24/7, then the lodging may not be for the primary benefit of the employee, and the employer may not be entitled to take a wage credit.  Employees have rights even if the property owner calls them “contractors,” “work campers,” or something else. Regardless of the label an employer tries to apply to a worker, the law, not the business owner, determines who is an employee and who is an independent contractor.

Don’t get overworked and underpaid.  If you are working at a motel, hotel, apartment, RV campground or inn and have questions about whether your overtime wage or minimum wage rights are being violated, call Bober & Bober, P.A. today at (800) 995-9243 for a free consultation.  You also can email us at info@boberlaw.com.

A recent survey of Floridians by Credit Loan indicates that Floridians believe the ideal minimum wage would be $11.99. That’s $3.74 higher than the current Florida 2018 minimum wage of $8.25.  More than 2,600 Americans were surveyed and the finding were weighted against 2016 U.S. Census data. Florida’s minimum wage increased $0.15 in 2018 compared to the $8.10 minimum wage for 2017.  Florida’s minimum wage is recalculated yearly based on the Consumer Price Index. The federal minimum wage currently is $7.25, and has not increased since 2009.

If your employer or former employer violated your wage rights, call a wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 1-800-995-9243 for a free consultation.

The increased minimum wages for 2015 also applies to tipped employees. Tipped employees must receive a direct wage of at least $5.03 per hour, in addition to tips received. In order for an employer to take a tip credit (i.e. pay a tipped employee $3.02 less than the full Florida minimum wage), the tipped employee’s tips must make up the difference between the reduced direct wage and the full minimum wage, and the employer must inform the employee of its intent to take a tip credit. If a tipped employee’s direct wage plus tips do not equal the full $8.05 per hour minimum wage, the employer must make up the shortage.

An employee who has not been paid the correct minimum wage has the right to bring a lawsuit in court to recover unpaid wages, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees and costs. If your employer has violated your wage rights, call a wage and hour lawyer at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE (9523) for a free consultation.

If you believe your employer has been illegally treating you as an independent contractor, has been stealing some of your tips, or violating the overtime and unpaid wage laws in Florida, call our unpaid wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-9243 for a fee consultation.