Last reviewed: September 8, 2026.
If you think your paycheck is short, start with the number. Florida’s minimum wage is $14.00 an hour, and on September 30, 2026 it goes to $15.00. If you earn tips, your employer must pay you at least $10.98 an hour in direct wages on top of what you make in tips. If you were paid less than that, you may be owed the difference — plus the same amount again in damages.
What Florida’s minimum wage is right now
The Florida minimum wage is set by the state constitution, not by your employer and not by the federal government. Voters approved a schedule that raises it by one dollar each year until it reaches $15.00.
- $14.00 per hour — effective September 30, 2025
- $15.00 per hour — effective September 30, 2026
Florida’s rate is far above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has not changed since 2009. When state and federal law differ, your employer must pay whichever is higher. In Florida, that is always the state rate.
If you earn tips, the math is different
Employers of tipped workers may take a "tip credit" of $3.02 an hour. That means they can count some of your tips toward the minimum wage — but they must still pay you a direct cash wage:
- $10.98 per hour in direct wages, plus tips, through September 29, 2026
- $11.98 per hour in direct wages, plus tips, once the $15.00 rate begins
Here is the part employers get wrong most often: your tips plus your direct wage must still add up to at least the full minimum wage for every hour you worked. If you had a slow shift and your tips did not close the gap, your employer owes you the difference. A tip credit is not permission to pay you less overall.
Common ways Florida employers underpay
Most wage violations do not look like an employer openly refusing to pay minimum wage. They look like this:
- Off-the-clock work — setting up before your shift is clocked in, closing after you clock out, or working through an automatically deducted lunch break.
- Unlawful deductions — charging you for uniforms, walkouts, register shortages, or broken equipment, when the deduction pushes your effective hourly rate below the minimum.
- Being told you are "exempt" — salary alone does not make you exempt from overtime; see exempt vs. non-exempt employees in Florida.
- Being called an independent contractor — a label on your paperwork does not decide it. What matters is how much control the business actually has over your work.
- Unpaid training or travel — required training, and travel between job sites during the workday, is generally paid time.
- Tip pooling with managers — supervisors and owners generally cannot share in a tip pool.
If your total pay for a week, divided by the hours you actually worked, comes out below the minimum, that gap is what the law is about — and how overtime pay is actually calculated often matters just as much.
The step Florida law requires before you can sue
Before you can file a Florida Minimum Wage Act claim in court, Fla. Stat. § 448.110 requires you to give your employer written notice of your intent to sue. The notice has to identify the minimum wage you say you are owed, the dates and hours involved, and the total amount. Your employer then has 15 calendar days to pay up or resolve the claim.
Two things are worth knowing. First, this notice step applies to the Florida claim — a federal claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act does not require it. Second, the notice has to actually contain the required information. A vague complaint to a manager is not notice, and getting this step wrong can delay an otherwise solid claim. It is worth having someone review the notice before you send it.
How long you have to act
Wage deadlines are not one number, and the state and federal clocks are different:
- Florida minimum wage claims — generally four years, and five years if the violation was willful, under Fla. Stat. § 95.11.
- Federal FLSA claims — generally two years, and three years if the violation was willful.
Every pay period that passes puts the oldest weeks out of reach. If you are already unsure whether you were paid correctly, that is the moment to ask.
What you can recover
Under the Florida Minimum Wage Act, an employee who prevails recovers the full amount of unpaid back wages, plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. An employer can reduce or avoid the liquidated damages only by proving it acted in good faith.
In plain terms: if you were shorted $4,000, the claim is generally about $8,000 — and your employer, not you, is normally responsible for the legal fees. That fee-shifting rule is why wage cases are worth pursuing even when the unpaid amount seems small.
Talk to a Fort Lauderdale wage and hour lawyer
If your pay stubs do not match the hours you worked, you do not have to figure this out alone. WLT Law Firm represents employees across Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach — never employers. A Fort Lauderdale unpaid overtime and wage lawyer can review your pay records, tell you whether you were underpaid, and handle the notice requirement correctly.
Consultations are free and confidential. Call 954-905-9863 or 866-GET-WALI (866-438-9254), or visit our Plantation office.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in Florida right now?
$14.00 per hour. It rises to $15.00 per hour on September 30, 2026. Tipped employees must receive at least $10.98 per hour in direct wages in addition to tips through September 29, 2026.
My employer pays me $7.25 an hour. Is that legal in Florida?
No. $7.25 is the federal rate. Florida’s minimum wage is higher, and when the two differ your employer must pay the higher one.
Can my employer pay me less because I get tips?
Only up to the $3.02 tip credit, and only if your tips plus your direct wage add up to at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked. If they do not, your employer owes you the difference.
Do I have to tell my employer before filing a minimum wage lawsuit?
For a Florida Minimum Wage Act claim, yes — written notice with the specific amounts and dates, and your employer gets 15 days to resolve it. A federal FLSA claim does not require that notice.
How much does it cost to hire a wage lawyer?
The consultation is free, and the Florida Minimum Wage Act shifts reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the employer when the employee prevails.
This article is general information about Florida and federal employment law, not legal advice. Every situation is different — speak with a qualified attorney about your specific circumstances.