Florida's minimum wage changes every year. If you're running a business with hourly team members, every increase hits your payroll directly.
The current Florida minimum wage is $14.00 per hour, effective September 30, 2025. The tipped minimum wage is $10.98 per hour. The next increase — to $15.00 — lands September 30, 2026.
Miss the date, run payroll at the old rate, or forget to update your records, and you're looking at fines, back wages, and a compliance headache you didn't budget for.
Here's everything you need to know to stay ahead of it.
What Florida's minimum wage means for your business right now.
Florida's minimum wage is $14.00/hour — and it's not done climbing. Here's what to keep in your back pocket:
- Current rate: $14.00/hour as of September 30, 2025 (Florida Department of Commerce)
- Tipped rate: $10.98/hour — tips must bring total pay to at least $14.00 (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Next increase: $15.00/hour on September 30, 2026 (Florida Amendment 2)
- Who it covers: Most Florida employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
- After 2026: Annual inflation adjustments kick in — this doesn't have a finish line
Your payroll needs to be ready before September 30 hits, not after.
What is the current Florida minimum wage?
Florida's minimum wage is $14.00 per hour, in effect from September 30, 2025 through September 29, 2026. That's $6.75 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour — and when state and federal rates differ, you pay whichever is higher. For virtually every Florida employer, that means $14.00 is your floor.
Florida's minimum wage covers all employees who qualify for the federal minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That includes most businesses, regardless of size. Very small businesses with less than $500,000 in annual revenue and minimal interstate commerce may be exempt — but for the vast majority of Florida employers, the state rate applies.
How Florida's minimum wage compares to the federal minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, with no scheduled increases. Florida's rate is nearly double that — and still growing. When the state hits $15.00 in 2026, Florida workers will earn $7.75 more per hour than the federal floor requires.
Federal guidance alone won't keep you compliant. Florida's state labor laws are what matter.
Florida minimum wage increases: The full timeline.
Florida's annual increases are written into the state constitution. In November 2020, voters approved Amendment 2, setting a schedule of $1-per-hour increases each year until the wage reaches $15.00. After that, annual adjustments will be tied to inflation.
Here's the complete schedule:
- September 30, 2021: $10.00/hour | Tipped: $6.98/hour
- September 30, 2022: $11.00/hour | Tipped: $7.98/hour
- September 30, 2023: $12.00/hour | Tipped: $8.98/hour
- September 30, 2024: $13.00/hour | Tipped: $9.98/hour
- September 30, 2025: $14.00/hour | Tipped: $10.98/hour
- September 30, 2026: $15.00/hour | Tipped: $11.98/hour
There's no finish line here. Building a payroll process that accounts for annual rate changes isn't optional — it's just how running a team in Florida works now.
When does minimum wage go up in Florida?
Florida's minimum wage increases every year on September 30. The next increase — from $14.00 to $15.00 per hour — hits September 30, 2026. After that, increases will be tied to the Consumer Price Index and announced annually by the Florida Department of Commerce.
Mark your calendar. More importantly, make sure your payroll is set up to adjust automatically when the date hits.
Florida tipped minimum wage explained.
If you run a restaurant, café, bar, or any business where your team earns tips, the tipped minimum wage rules apply — and they work a little differently.
Florida's tipped minimum wage is $10.98 per hour (effective September 30, 2025). You can apply a tip credit of $3.02 per hour — but the combination of direct wages plus tips must reach the full $14.00 minimum wage for every hour worked. The $3.02 tip credit is fixed. It doesn't increase as the minimum wage rises.
When the rate increases to $15.00 on September 30, 2026, the tipped direct wage goes up to $11.98 per hour.
What happens if tips don't make up the difference?
If an employee's tips don't bring their total hourly pay up to the full minimum wage, you're required to cover the gap. No exceptions.
Before applying the tip credit, you're also required to notify your tipped team members — letting them know their direct cash wage, the tip credit amount, and that they keep all their tips outside of valid tip pooling arrangements. Skip that notice, and you lose the right to claim the tip credit entirely, per the FLSA.
Tracking tip income and proving minimum wage compliance for every pay period is where a lot of small businesses run into trouble. Knowing the rules isn't enough — you have to be able to show you followed them.
What the Florida minimum wage increase means for small businesses.
Every September 30, your labor costs go up. If your payroll process isn't built to handle it, you end up scrambling at the worst possible time.
Here's what the annual increases actually mean in practice:
Your base labor costs rise across the board. Every team member earning at or near minimum wage gets a raise — whether your business had a strong month or not. Know what that increase costs you before it hits, not after.
Overtime gets more expensive, faster. When base wages go up, hours that used to stay under the overtime threshold can cross it more quickly — especially for team members picking up extra shifts. A higher base rate means overtime pay costs more too. Watching hours closely as you approach the end of a pay period matters more now than it did when rates were lower.
Payroll errors spike during transitions. The most common time for payroll errors is right after a rate change. Someone forgets to update the system, one team member gets the old rate, and suddenly you've got incorrect paychecks and a compliance problem. The fix is payroll that updates automatically — not one that depends on you remembering to make the change.
When your payroll and time tracking are in the same place, a wage increase doesn't have to be a fire drill. Homebase automatically calculates wages based on current rates and flags when team members are approaching overtime — so you're not piecing it together from two different systems at the end of every pay period. That's one less thing to catch you off guard on October 1.
How to stay compliant with Florida minimum wage laws.
Staying on top of Florida's minimum wage requirements isn't just about knowing the rate. Every annual increase comes with specific obligations — and falling behind on any of them can get expensive fast.
Post updated notices. Florida law requires employers to display the current minimum wage poster somewhere visible and accessible to all employees. When the rate changes on September 30, you need the updated poster up. The Florida Department of Commerce releases new posters each year.
Update your payroll promptly. Any pay period starting after September 30 must reflect the new rate. If your system doesn't catch that automatically, build a reminder into your calendar well before the date.
Keep accurate time records. The FLSA requires employers to maintain time and pay records for at least two years — three years for payroll records. If a wage dispute or audit comes up, those records are your defense. Incomplete time cards aren't just inconvenient; they're a liability.
Know what's at stake. The U.S. Labor Department's wage enforcement division assessed nearly $26 million in fines against employers in 2023 — the highest on record in a decade. Wage and hour violations can mean thousands of dollars in fines per instance, plus back wages and legal costs.
Homebase stores timesheet records digitally and keeps a full audit trail of any edits — so if a wage dispute ever comes up, you've got clean documentation ready. We can't guarantee compliance on your behalf, but we can help make sure the records you'd need are accurate and easy to find.
Florida minimum wage violations: what's at risk.
Under Florida Statutes 448.110, employees who haven't received the lawful minimum wage can file a lawsuit — but only after notifying the employer in writing and allowing 15 days to resolve unpaid wage claims. If it goes to court, employers face back wages, damages, and legal fees. The average cost to defend an employment lawsuit runs $75,000 to $125,000, before any damages paid out.
Getting this right is worth the effort.
Florida minimum wage FAQs.
Is Florida going to $15 minimum wage?
Yes. Florida's minimum wage will reach $15.00 per hour on September 30, 2026 — the final step in the Amendment 2 schedule voters approved in 2020. After 2026, the rate adjusts annually for inflation. Fifteen dollars isn't the ceiling — it's the new floor.
When is the next Florida minimum wage increase?
The next increase takes effect September 30, 2026, bringing the rate from $14.00 to $15.00 per hour. The tipped minimum wage increases from $10.98 to $11.98 per hour at the same time. Florida raises its minimum wage every year on September 30.
What is the tipped minimum wage in Florida?
Florida's tipped minimum wage is $10.98 per hour (as of September 30, 2025), with a fixed tip credit of $3.02. Tips plus the direct wage must total at least $14.00 per hour. If they fall short, you cover the difference. On September 30, 2026, the tipped rate increases to $11.98 per hour. See the U.S. Department of Labor for federal tipped wage rules.
Does Florida minimum wage apply to all workers?
Florida's minimum wage covers most workers under the FLSA. Exemptions include executive, administrative, and professional employees meeting certain salary tests, outside sales employees, some agricultural workers, and computer professionals earning at least $27.63 per hour. When in doubt, check the FLSA exemption criteria or speak with an employment attorney.
Is $20 minimum wage anywhere in the U.S.?
Yes. California's minimum wage reached $20 per hour for fast food workers in 2024, and several cities have local minimum wages above $20 for certain industries. Washington, D.C. and Seattle are also near or above that threshold. Florida prohibits local minimum wage laws — the state rate applies uniformly statewide.
Don't let the next wage increase catch you off guard.
Florida's minimum wage goes up every September 30. Every time it does, your payroll has to keep pace — the right rates, the right records, the right overtime calculations.
Most payroll headaches around wage increases aren't caused by not knowing the new number. They're caused by systems that don't update automatically, time cards that don't connect to payroll, and overtime that creeps up because no one was watching hours closely enough.
Homebase brings employee scheduling, time tracking, and payroll into one place — so when the minimum wage increases, your numbers update, your records stay clean, and you're not doing manual math at the end of a pay period. Over 100,000 small businesses use Homebase to keep their teams running. Try it free and see how much easier payday can be.
