Florida's minimum wage is set by the state constitution and rises on a fixed schedule, but everything else — overtime, breaks — defers to the federal FLSA.
The constitutional minimum-wage schedule
Under Article X, § 24 of the Florida Constitution (Amendment 2) and the Florida Minimum Wage Act (Fla. Stat. § 448.110), the wage rises $1.00 every September 30 until it reaches $15.00 on September 30, 2026 (it was $14.00 from Sept 30, 2025), then is indexed to inflation. The tipped cash wage rises in step, with a fixed $3.02 tip credit.
The pre-suit notice trap
Before suing under the Florida Minimum Wage Act, a worker must give the employer written pre-suit notice and a 15-day window to cure (Fla. Stat. § 448.110(6)) — missing it can be fatal to the claim. For employers, fixing a flagged underpayment promptly can end the dispute.
Overtime: FLSA only
Florida has no modern state overtime statute, no double-time, and no state meal/rest-break mandate — the federal FLSA governs almost entirely: 1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek, with the white-collar exemption at the federal $684/week ($35,568/yr) salary level (29 C.F.R. Part 541). Florida preempts local wage and scheduling ordinances.
One old Florida statute does address daily hours, and it is unrepealed. Fla. Stat. § 448.01 makes ten hours a legal day’s work for a person “employed to perform manual labor of any kind,” and entitles that person to extra pay for work required beyond ten hours a day — unless a written contract signed by both the employee and the employer sets a different number of daily hours. It is an 1874 provision with no stated multiplier and no enforcing agency, so it is easy to mistake for a museum piece. Treat it as live: Fla. Stat. § 448.08 lets a court award the prevailing party in an action for unpaid wages its costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee, which is what makes a modest daily-hours claim worth bringing. For manual-labor roles, put the agreed schedule in a signed writing rather than assuming Florida has no daily-hours rule at all.
Practical takeaways
Update payroll every September 30 for the wage step-up, keep tip records if you take the credit, fix any flagged minimum-wage shortfall within the cure window, and classify exempt vs. non-exempt under the federal tests. Florida has no state income tax on individuals — the Florida Constitution bars one (Fla. Const. art. VII, § 5(a)) — so federal withholding only.
Need help with this?
Our HR Assistant gives cited Florida HR answers in seconds, backed by 45+ years of hands-on HR experience.