Florida has no state youth minimum wage. Full state floor applies.
Unlike Illinois ($13/hr youth wage) or many other states, Florida does not have a state-level youth or training sub-minimum. Workers under 18 earn the full state minimum wage just like adults — $14.00/hr today, $15.00/hr starting September 30, 2026. The narrow exceptions are federal: a $4.25/hr student-learner sub-minimum for workers in approved vocational educational programs, and a 90-day federal $4.25 youth wage for workers under 20. Both require federal certificates and are rare in practice.
Youth & Student Rate Configuration
Defaults all under-18 Florida workers to the full state minimum. Tracks federal certificates for the rare student-learner exceptions. Surfaces sub-minimum requests for review.
What those rules do when youth workers are scheduled.
The hero card configuration: Block on unauthorized sub-minimum, Flag on cross-state wage gap visibility.
When an admin attempts to set a Florida worker's rate below the state minimum (other than for tipped workers), Teambridge requires either a federal student-learner certificate or a federal 14(c) disability certificate on file. Without one, the save fails.
For multi-state operators with workers in both Florida and (e.g.) Illinois, Teambridge surfaces a Flag noting that a 17-year-old Florida worker earns $14.00 (full state minimum) while a 17-year-old Illinois worker may earn $13.00 (under 650 hours/year). The comparison is informational, not action-required.
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Florida's structural simplicity is rare.
Most states with their own minimum wages create some youth or training carve-out. Florida didn't. The constitutional source of the wage floor (Article X § 24) didn't include sub-minimum provisions, and the implementing statute follows suit.
No state youth minimum
Florida does not have a state-level youth, training, or sub-minimum wage for workers based on age. A 14-year-old, a 17-year-old, and a 47-year-old all earn the full state minimum unless they qualify for one of the narrow federal exceptions. This is structurally simpler than most states with their own minimum wages.
Federal student-learner exception
29 C.F.R. § 519.10 et seq. allows a sub-minimum of $4.25/hr (or 75% of the applicable minimum, whichever is greater) for student-learners 16+ in approved vocational educational programs. The employer must apply for and receive a federal certificate from the U.S. DOL before paying the sub-minimum. This is a narrow exception used primarily in formal apprenticeship-adjacent programs.
Teambridge gates sub-minimum at the source.
The simplicity of Florida's youth wage rule means most operators don't need to think about it — the system enforces the full minimum by default.
Age-based sub-minimum disabled.
Florida worker setup defaults to the full state minimum regardless of age. There's no per-worker youth-wage configuration to set.
Federal certificate required for any sub-minimum.
If an employer needs to apply a sub-minimum (rare — typically only for formal apprenticeship programs), Teambridge requires the federal certificate on file. Without it, the save fails.
Multi-state pay equity surfaced.
For multi-state operators, pay-rate dashboards show how the same role/age combination compares across states. Helpful for understanding cost differences and avoiding pay-equity perception issues.
All sub-minimum decisions logged.
Every sub-minimum rate is logged with the controlling certificate. Audit-defense relies on the certificate chain; missing certificates default to back wages owed at full minimum.
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