One of the most discussed employment related issues around the country the last few years has been the question of “What is a fair minimum hourly wage?” The current federally mandated minimum wage is $7.25 an hour while Florida currently requires employers to pay a minimum wage of $8.10. However, many local governments, like those in Seattle ($15 an hour) and Los Angeles ($15 an hour by 2020), have decided to set an even higher minimum hourly wage for employers due to the high cost of living in those cities.
In June 2016, the City of Miami Beach joined the trend and passed a local ordinance that would set a citywide minimum wage at $10.31 an hour starting on January 1, 2018, and would include increases each year until it reached $13.31 per hour in 2021. In response, Plaintiffs Florida Retail Federation, Inc., Cefra Inc., Florida Chamber of Commerce, Inc., Gavin Shamrock, Inc., Start Again, Inc., and Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association filed suit seeking to invalidated Defendant Miami Beach’s minimum wage ordinance. The trial court agreed with the Plaintiffs that Florida Statute §218.077 invalidated Miami Beach’s minimum wage ordinance. Miami Beach appealed the decision to the Third District Court of Appeals Florida.
On appeal, the Third District looked at the recent history of Florida’s minimum wage laws. The court noted that in 2003, the Florida Legislature enacted section 218.077 which established the federal minimum wage as the minimum wage for the state of Florida. In addition, Subsection (2) of section 218.077 preempted local government ordinances that would seek to raise the minimum wage above the federal wage amount.
However, the following year, in 2004, Florida's voters passed a citizens' initiative to amend the Florida Constitution by adding Article X, Section 24, which established a higher, statewide minimum wage than the federal minimum wage. Miami Beach argued that under Article X, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, it had the ability to set a higher minimum wage than what was set by the state.
In December 2017, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision, concluding that the 2004 amendment to the Florida Constitution did not nullify the Florida’s wage preemption statute (Florida Statute §218.077), which indeed does prohibit local minimum wage ordinances such as the one enacted by Miami Beach in 2016.
Accordingly, the Third District Court of Appeals decision is a setback to those fighting for a higher minimum wage for employees living in areas of Florida with higher cost of living expenses. The decision is also a signal that such local ordinances will not be an option for Florida city governments until there is a modification to either the Florida statutes or Florida Constitution.