Florida’s minimum wage rises to $15 an hour on September 30, giving covered workers a new pay floor before the next month begins. The date is set in the state constitution. It is not October 1, and it does not wait for the start of a new calendar year. Florida Constitution, Article X, Section 24
Public-service reporting · September 18, 2026 | Tamara Drake, OrlandoAdvocate Staff
The current standard rate is $14. For a worker moving from $14 to $15 with the same 40 paid hours, the increase is $40 in gross weekly pay. At 20 hours, it is $20. These are simple illustrations before taxes and deductions, not forecasts of take-home income. Someone already earning above the new floor should not assume the change creates an automatic additional dollar for every hour. FloridaCommerce wage schedule
Tipped workers need to check the employer-paid portion as well as tips. The Florida United Businesses Association’s September 2026 notice gives the new tipped cash minimum as $11.98 an hour. Wages and tips must together meet the applicable minimum; when they fall short, the employer must cover the difference. A busy shift does not eliminate the requirement to pay the required cash wage. FUBA’s wage notice
Federal rules also prohibit employers, managers and supervisors from keeping employees’ tips, subject to specific rules governing tips managers receive directly for service they alone provide. Tip pools and service charges have their own rules. Workers comparing a paycheck should distinguish hourly wages, reported tips, pooled tips and other charges instead of treating every line as interchangeable. U.S. Department of Labor tipped-worker guidance
A practical first step is to keep a personal record of hours worked around the change and save the corresponding pay statements. Compare hours worked before September 30 with hours worked on and after that date. If the rate looks wrong, identify the particular dates and amounts when asking payroll for an explanation. A pay period that crosses the change deserves a closer look than the total deposit alone.
For questions involving federal minimum-wage, overtime or tip protections, the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division can be reached at 1-866-487-9243. Its complaint guidance says useful information includes the employer’s name, location, the work performed and how and when workers were paid. The division says complaints are confidential and retaliation for exercising protected rights is prohibited. Federal complaint guidance
Florida’s higher wage floor also has state-law enforcement provisions. Workers seeking recovery specifically under Florida law should ask a qualified legal-aid provider or employment lawyer which process applies. A federal help line should not be mistaken for a promise that federal investigators will recover every state-only wage difference. The immediate task is straightforward: know the effective date, preserve the records and check that the new rate reaches the paycheck. Florida constitutional protections
- Tamara Drake
- Tamara Drake
- Tamara Drake
- Tamara Drake
