Employment Law Observer

On September 30, 2021, Florida’s hourly minimum wage rate increased from $8.56 to $10.00. For the next five years, the hourly minimum wage in Florida will increase by $1.00 each year until it reaches $15.00 per hour in 2026. This increase came as the result of Amendment 2, passed on November 3, 2020, by an overwhelming majority of Florida voters.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that a Minneapolis ordinance raising the minimum wage did not conflict with—and was not impliedly preempted by—state statute, clearing the path for a rise in minimum wages in the municipality. (Graco, Inc., et al. v. City of Minneapolis, Case No. A18-0593). While review may still be sought at the Minnesota Supreme Court, employers in Minneapolis should continue complying with the ordinance's minimum wage requirements.

Employers in Illinois will be dealing with double digit minimum wage increases over the next several years, after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed "The Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act" into law.

In Nisei Farmers League vs. California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, California’s Fifth Appellate District confirmed the constitutional validity of Labor Code section 226.2, a recently enacted law providing that employees paid on a piece-rate basis must be paid at least minimum wage, and must be paid for rest and recovery periods and “other nonproductive time” separate from any piece-rate compensation. Under a piece-rate system, employees are not paid by the hour, but rather based on activities, task or units of production completed. For example, employees are paid by the number of widgets they produce. The goal of the statute was to make sure employers who pay under a piece-rate system also comply with all minimum wage law requirements that apply to hourly workers.

On July 1, 2018, multiple state and local authorities will increase the hourly minimum wage rate ever closer to the $15.00 per hour wage demanded by the Fight for $15 advocates. The following lists of minimum wage increases are not exhaustive and may not reflect increases within a certain working sector (for example, increase in minimum wages for tipped workers or hotel workers).Therefore, we encourage you to contact legal counsel for up-to-date information regarding your city, county or state.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it will now use the primary beneficiary test” to determine whether an intern must be paid.  Its announcement comes in the wake of the 9th Circuit’s adoption of the test, joining the 2nd, 6th, and 11th Circuits.  With the announcement, the DOL also updated Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act. These moves displace a 6-part test the DOL adopted in 2010 that required all factors weigh in favor of the employer.

While advocates across the country continue to demand states increase their minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, Florida decided to forgo large scale reform and increase its minimum wage by only two percent.  Effective January 1, 2018, Florida’s minimum wage will increase by 15 cents from $8.10 to $8.25 per hour.  Florida’s minimum wage for tipped employees will also increase by 15 cents from $5.08 to $5.23 per hour. To put this in perspective, a year earlier, Florida increased its minimum wage by five cents from $8.05 to $8.10 per hour, while tipped employees received an increase from $5.03 to $5.08 per hour.

On January 1st, 2017, the minimum wage in Florida will increase from $8.05 an hour to $8.10 an hour. This represents the fifth-smallest hourly increase since Florida established a state minimum wage in 2005. For tipped employees, the minimum wage will be at least $5.08 an hour.