01Minimum wage & the Sept 30 jump.
Florida's minimum wage sits at $14.00/hr through September 29, 2026, then jumps to $15.00/hr on September 30, 2026 — the final scheduled increase under Amendment 2 (passed by Florida voters in 2020). After 2026, the rate adjusts annually based on CPI-W South Region inflation, with calculations done each September 30 and new rates taking effect on January 1 of the following year (a calendar shift that matters for payroll planning).
The minimum wage lives in Article X § 24 of the Florida Constitution, implemented through Fla. Stat. § 448.110. Because the rate is constitutional, the Legislature cannot lower it without a constitutional amendment. State preemption (§ 218.077) blocks cities from setting higher floors — Miami Beach attempted a $10.31 ordinance in 2016 and was struck down by the Third District Court of Appeal in 2017.
Teambridge enforces the state floor as a hard block on below-floor saves. Approaching September 30, 2026, all Florida workers below $15.00 surface for batch uplift — the action runs in one click, effective from the first shift of that calendar day. After 2026, annual CPI uplifts repeat each January 1.
02Tipped wage reconciliation + federal OT.
Florida's tipped minimum is $10.98/hr cash through September 29, 2026, with tips closing the gap to the $14.00 floor — a maximum tip credit of $3.02 (the same $3.02 the Florida Constitution locked in back in 2004 from the federal FLSA value). On September 30, 2026, the cash wage rises to $11.98/hr alongside the $15.00 floor — the credit stays at $3.02. If a worker's cash + declared tips fall short of the controlling floor in any workweek, the employer makes up the difference. Federal manager/supervisor tip-pool ban also applies.
Overtime in Florida runs entirely on federal FLSA: 1.5× past 40 hours in a fixed workweek. The Florida-specific tipped OT trap: a tipped worker's OT premium calculates on the full state minimum ($14.00, rising to $15.00 on Sept 30, 2026), not on the $10.98/$11.98 cash wage. So tipped worker OT = 1.5 × $14.00, not 1.5 × $10.98. Calculating off the cash wage is the most common Florida tipped-worker underpayment.
The exempt classification threshold ($684/week) is also federal-only — Florida has no state threshold above federal. Misclassification stacks FLSA back wages plus liquidated damages plus § 448.08 attorney-fee shift on prevailing.
03No state break rule. No state pay frequency rule.
Florida does not require employers to provide meal or rest breaks for workers 18 and older. Once breaks are offered, federal FLSA controls pay status: short breaks (5-20 minutes) must be paid as working time; bona fide meal periods (30+ minutes where the worker is fully relieved of duty) can be unpaid. Workers under 18 face separate break rules under Florida's child labor law (covered below).
Florida also has no state pay frequency law. The employer chooses the cadence (weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly), and the federal FLSA enforces it: wages must be paid on the regular payday for the pay period in which they were earned. Once a payday is established, late wages can convert into federal minimum-wage violations — since unpaid hours are technically below minimum. The flexibility comes with a strict consistency requirement.
Multi-state operators must apply each state's pay frequency rule to its workers. Florida's permissive approach doesn't cover workers in stricter-cadence states. Per-state cadence configuration is the practical solution; biweekly works for most cases since it satisfies most state minimums.
04No final paycheck statute. Vacation by policy only.
Florida is one of four states (along with Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi) without a specific final paycheck statute. Final wages are due on the next regular payday for the pay period in which the work was performed under federal FLSA — same deadline whether the worker quit, was fired, was laid off, or otherwise separated. There's no state-mandated acceleration for termination.
The exposure isn't timing — it's withholding. Withholding for unreturned property, disputed PTO usage, or expense overpayments can convert into federal FLSA minimum-wage violations and Florida § 448.08 unpaid-wage claims with attorney-fee shift. Property recovery should happen through demand letter or small-claims action, not paycheck deduction. The temptation to withhold is strong; the legal cost typically exceeds the property value.
Vacation payout in Florida is contractual, not statutory. Payout is owed only if the employer's written policy or employment agreement provides for it. If silent, use-it-or-lose-it, or explicitly forfeits at termination, no payout is owed. Florida is structurally similar to Texas and structurally opposite to Illinois (mandatory) and Colorado (mandatory under Nieto). The flip side: when the policy provides for payout, Florida courts enforce that contractual obligation through § 448.08.
05§ 448.110: 15-day pre-suit notice and the cure window.
Florida's distinctive minimum-wage enforcement structure is the pre-suit notice mechanic in Fla. Stat. § 448.110(6). Before a worker can sue for unpaid minimum wages under the Florida Constitution, they must give the employer 15 calendar days written notice identifying the alleged unpaid wages, work dates, and total amount. The employer can pay or resolve the claim during that 15-day window — with no liquidated damages or attorney fees if they do.
Failure to cure exposes the employer to back wages plus 2× liquidated damages plus attorney fees plus a $1,000 civil penalty per intentional violation. The good-faith defense (29 U.S.C. § 260) is available if the employer can prove by preponderance that the act was in good faith with reasonable grounds for believing it was lawful — that defense doesn't avoid back wages, just the multiplier.
Teambridge surfaces inbound § 448.110 notices as Critical events with the 15-day countdown clock. The system cross-references the claim against timesheet, payroll, and rate records to determine whether the claim is accurate and what the actual exposure is. Operators decide whether to cure within the window — the off-ramp is genuine, but only if the response happens fast.
06State preemption: wage, PSL, and (Sept 30, 2026) scheduling.
Florida's preemption framework is unusually broad. Fla. Stat. § 218.077 prohibits cities and counties from setting minimum wages above the state floor for private employers. The same statute preempts local paid sick leave ordinances (added by 2013 amendment). Multiple Florida cities had attempted PSL ordinances; all are unenforceable for private employers. Orange County's voter-approved 2014 PSL initiative was made moot by the 2013 preemption.
The 2024 amendment to § 218.077 (effective September 30, 2026) creates Fla. Stat. § 448.007 with explicit preemption of local predictive scheduling ordinances — addressing speculation that a Florida city might attempt a Chicago-style Fair Workweek law. After September 30, 2026, no Florida political subdivision may enact such an ordinance for private employers.
Narrow exception: cities can require higher wages or benefits for the city's own employees, city contractors and subcontractors, or employers receiving direct tax abatement or subsidy from the city. These are contractual relationships — they don't reach the private sector generally. For multi-state operators familiar with California or Illinois layered rules, Florida's preemption is genuinely different. Teambridge sets the right defaults so operators don't accidentally over-configure.
07Child labor: two age tiers, both reshaped by HB 49 in 2024.
Florida's child labor law (Fla. Stat. § 450.081) was significantly amended by HB 49, effective July 1, 2024. The amendment loosened restrictions on 16- and 17-year-old workers: removed the 6-consecutive-day cap, removed the mandatory 30-minute break after 4 hours, allowed parent or school superintendent waiver of the 30-hours-per-school-week cap. Workers 14-15 retain the stricter pre-HB-49 rules (15 hrs school week, 30-min break after 4 hours of continuous work, 7 AM-7 PM time window extended to 9 PM in summer).
2025 bills SB 918 and HB 1225 attempted further rollback (proposing unlimited hours and removed break protections for 16-17 year-olds and home/virtual-schooled 14-15 year-olds). Both bills died in committee — the HB 49 (2024) framework remains operative for 2026.
Federal Hazardous Occupations Orders (29 CFR § 570) bar workers under 18 from 17 specific dangerous job categories regardless of state law. Federal civil penalties for HO violations: up to $15,138 per violation, doubled if repeated or willful. Florida does not require employment certificates or work permits — but employers must keep proof of age on file for any worker under 18.