Tipped Employees | Bober Law

Florida Minimum Wage Updates and Future Annual Increases

admin — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:07:02 +0000

On September 30, 2024, the Florida minimum wage increased to $13.00 per hour for regular hours and $19.50 for overtime hours worked. For tipped employees, the required minimum wage rate increased to $9.98, and $16.48 for overtime hours. The Florida minimum wage will increase each year on September 30th until 2026 when the Florida minimum wage will reach $15 per hour for regular hours. For more information about tipped employees, click here. For information about common wage violations, click here.

Florida Voters Approve a $15 Florida Minimum Wage

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 23:52:28 +0000

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.

Florida Restaurant Industry Wage Violations Are Common

admin — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 18:33:35 +0000

Tip theft, minimum wage, and overtime violations are common in the restaurant industry according to a recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Sun-Sentinel interviewed attorney Peter Bober of Bober & Bober, P.A. about wage violations involving restaurant industry employees. To learn more about the ways that restaurant employers violate the wage laws, read the article below.

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

Illegal Restaurant Tip Pools

admin — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 14:54:30 +0000

Higher Florida Minimum Wage Starting in January 2017

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:24:24 +0000

On January 1, 2017, the Florida minimum wage will increase by five cents ($0.05) from $8.05 to $8.10 per hour. A covered employee who is paid the minimum wage would also be entitled to an overtime wage of at least $12.15 per hour. As of January 1, 2017, tipped employees in Florida must be paid a direct wage of $5.08, which is equal to the $8.10 minimum wage minus a $3.02 tip credit, and an overtime wage of $9.13. An employee who has not received the required wage may bring a lawsuit in court. If your employer or former employer fails to pay you the required wage rate, call a wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-9243 for a free consultation.

Manicure Industry Wage Theft

admin — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:08:02 +0000

Many nail salons commit wage theft violations by not paying manicurist at least the minimum wage for hours worked, and by making illegal deductions from customer tips or wages. (“The Price of Nails” New York Times, 5/7/15). Manicure industry wage theft is common. For example, nail salons often do not pay newly hired manicurists the required minimum wages for work. While nail salon workers are usually considered “tipped employees” and paid a reduced minimum wage, salon owners often fail to make up the difference between the reduced and full minimum wage when tips are insufficient to allow the technicians to earn at least the full minimum wage and overtime for all hours worked. Many nail salons also do not pay the required minimum wage for weeks or months of training. Some nail salons also illegally require new manicurists to pay a training fee, such $100 to $200, to begin work at the nail salon or to learn a new skill. Nail salons also dock the tips of nail technicians for minor incidents such as spilling a bottle of nail polish. In one nail salon lawsuit, the workers alleged they were paid $1.50 per hour for working a sixty-six (66) hour workweek, paid nothing on slow days, and charged for drinking water. Many nail salon workers are part of a vulnerable population because they are in the country illegally, are undocumented workers, and speak limited English. The wage laws, however, protect even undocumented workers from wage theft.

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.

Florida Minimum Wage Increases to $8.05

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 14:20:12 +0000

Effective January 1, 2015, the Florida minimum wage will increase from $7.93 to $8.05 per hour. The increase is required by a Florida constitutional amendment establishing a minimum wage for the state, and requiring that the minimum wage be adjusted based on inflation and the Consumer Price Index.

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.

Exotic Dancers Win Minimum Wage Lawsuit

admin — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 14:22:11 +0000

A court has determined that exotic dancers who performed at Rick’s Cabaret, an adult nightclub in New York, were employees covered by federal and state wage laws. A class action consisting of strippers sued the night club where they worked for unpaid minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York wage laws. The gentlemen’s club did not pay the dancers any wages, took a portion of the dancers’ performance fees, and imposed fines if the dancers violated certain rules. The adult nightclub claimed unsuccessfully that the dancers were not covered by the minimum wage laws because they were independent contractors. The court determined the exotic dancers were employees, not independent contractors, because the club exercised so much control over the adult dancers that it could be described as “micromanagement.” For example, the club required the exotic dancers to work eight hour shifts, wear stiletto heels that were a least 4 inches high, prohibited body glitter, and required any tattoos to be covered by make-up. The court in the Rick’s Cabaret case also rejected the employer’s argument that the performance fees paid to the dancers by customers could be used to meet the employer’s wage requirements because the employer did not make the performance fees part of its gross receipts, and distribute from its gross receipts some of those performance fees back to the exotic dancers. Thus, the court held that the performance fees were tips in which the gentlemen’s club was not allowed share, and were not service fees. The court’s conclusion in the Rick’s Cabaret case that the exotic dancers were covered by the wage laws was in line with many other courts. It also followed an $8,000,000 class action settlement between New York City’s Penthouse Executive Club and its adult dancers.

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.

Illegal Deductions from Employee Wages

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:30:15 +0000

Some employers try to deduct money from employee wages to cover their overhead, which the employer should be responsible for paying. For example, a business may try to deduct money from a server’s tips for such expenses as uniforms, register shortages, walk-outs, returned food, broken plates, or damaged property. If such deductions cause a worker’s hourly wage to fall below the applicable minimum wage, the deduction may be illegal. These improper deductions often occur in the hospitality industry where restaurant workers (i.e. waiters, servers, bartenders, busboys, food runners) are paid at or below the minimum wage for each hour worked. In those situations involving hospitality employees, any deduction may be an illegal deduction, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Florida minimum wage law. If your employer has been making questionable deductions from your pay or your tips, contact a wage and hour lawyer at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE for a free consultation.

Florida Minimum Wage Increases to $7.67

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:15:46 +0000

On January 1, 2012, the Florida minimum wage increased by 36 cents to $7.67 per hour. In 2011, the Florida minimum wage was $7.25 until June 2011 when it increased to $7.31. The 2012 increase is equivalent to an extra $14.40 per week for an employee who works 40 hours and earns the minimum wage. For tipped employees, the current Florida minimum wage requires employers to pay tipped employees an hourly direct wage of $4.65. The federal minimum wage remains at $7.25. According Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2010, there were 253,000 Florida workers earning at or below the minimum wage. If you were not paid the minimum wage, call the attorneys at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE for a free consultation.