Minimum Wage Archives - Bober & Bober

Florida Minimum Wage Updates and Future Annual Increases

Samara Bober — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:07:02 +0000

On September 30, 2024, the Florida minimum wage increased to $13.00 per hour for regular hours and $19.50 for overtime hours worked. For tipped employees, the required minimum wage rate increased to $9.98, and $16.48 for overtime hours. The Florida minimum wage will increase each year on September 30th until 2026 when the Florida minimum wage will reach $15 per hour for regular hours. For more information about tipped employees, click here. For information about common wage violations, click here.

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Florida Voters Approve a $15 Florida Minimum Wage

Samara Bober — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 23:52:28 +0000

Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution that will gradually increase the Florida minimum wage over the next six years. At the time of passage, the Florida minimum wage was $8.56. Florida’s minimum wage will increase to $10 in September 2021, and then will increase $1 per year until it reaches $15 in 2026. After the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour, it will be adjusted annually for inflation. Florida joins eight other states where the minimum wage will be $15 per hour in the future: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. The Florida Policy Institute reviewed the impact of increasing the minimum wage, and found that it would increase the wages of 2.5 million workers in Florida, most of whom are women and people of color, and that it would also decrease the wage gap between men and women.According to a study by the Congressional Budget Office, incrementally raising the minimum wage to $15 across the country would lift more than 17 million people out of poverty.

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Florida Restaurant Industry Wage Violations Are Common

Samara Bober — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 18:33:35 +0000

Tip theft, minimum wage, and overtime violations are common in the restaurant industry according to a recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Sun-Sentinel interviewed attorney Peter Bober of Bober & Bober, P.A. about wage violations involving restaurant industry employees. To learn more about the ways that restaurant employers violate the wage laws, read the article below.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-ways-that-restaurants-cheat-their-workers-20190816-aiooy2g7gnb3rmog2yjir6bemq-story.html

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Unpaid Wages of Resident Motel Managers

Samara Bober — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 14:16:41 +0000

Innkeepers, motel managers, hotel managers, recreational vehicle (RV) campground managers, “work campers,” and property managers who live on the property they also manage frequently are paid less than the minimum wage and denied overtime pay. Motel, hotel, and RV campground owners often employ individuals or couples to manage small properties and provide a “free” room or “lot rent.” Often, however, the free lodging benefits the owner, allowing the owner to have an employee on call onsite, a is not primarily provided for the convenience of the employee. Property managers, “work campers,” and innkeepers living onsite frequently work long hours seven days per week. They also may be required to handle guest issues throughout the night. A motel/hotel/RV campground owner, however, cannot escape the overtime and minimum wage laws simply by providing lodging.

For a motel, hotel or RV campground owners to be entitled to pay an employee less wages in exchange for providing a room or lodging (i.e., a wage credit or lodging deduction), the employer must, among other things, charge no more than the employer’s “reasonable cost” of the lodging, the lodging must be “customarily furnished” by the employer, the lodging must be provided primarily for the benefit or convenience of the employee, and the lodging must be accepted voluntarily by the employee.

Motel, hotel, and campground employers often fail to meet all the requirements for taking a wage credit for lodging. Owners of these properties often charge their onsite managers the retail value of the room or lot rather than their actual, reasonable cost. The reasonable cost can be no more than the actual cost to the owner of the lodging provided. The law does not allow employers to profit from the lodging deduction. Motel/hotel/RV campground owners also often fail to keep accurate records of the cost of providing the lodging to the employee. Moreover, if the employee is asked to live on the property so that the motel or campground can have someone on call 24/7, then the lodging may not be for the primary benefit of the employee, and the employer may not be entitled to take a wage credit. Employees have rights even if the property owner calls them “contractors,” “work campers,” or something else. Regardless of the label an employer tries to apply to a worker, the law, not the business owner, determines who is an employee and who is an independent contractor.

Don’t get overworked and underpaid. If you are working at a motel, hotel, apartment, RV campground or inn and have questions about whether your overtime wage or minimum wage rights are being violated, call Bober & Bober, P.A. today at (800) 995-9243 for a free consultation. You also can email us at info@boberlaw.com.

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Expanded Overtime Wage Protection

Samara Bober — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 17:59:36 +0000

Under a new United States Department of Labor (DOL) proposal to expand overtime wage protection, anyone making an annual salary of less than $50,440 automatically would be guaranteed overtime pay for hours worked over forty in a workweek. The overtime law requires covered employees to be paid time and one-half their regular rate for hours worked over forty in a workweek. This expanded overtime wage protection is a significant increase from the prior yearly salary threshold of $23,660, (which is equivalent to $455 per week). The $23,660 pay threshold for exclusion from overtime pay protection is less than the federal poverty line for a family of four. Under the proposal, workers making more than $50,440 annually, (which is the equivalent of $970 per week) would also still have to meet certain job duty requirements to be exempt from overtime pay. You can view a U.S. Department of Labor video explaining the change. This expanded overtime wage protection takes a significant step in curbing the abuse of salaried workers and limiting the exemption from overtime pay. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates an additional five million (5,000,000) workers will be entitled to overtime under the new rule, including convenience store managers, fast food managers, and some office workers. If your employer or former employer failed to pay you overtime wages, call a wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-9243 for a free consultation.

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Manicure Industry Wage Theft

Samara Bober — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:08:02 +0000

Many nail salons commit wage theft violations by not paying manicurist at least the minimum wage for hours worked, and by making illegal deductions from customer tips or wages. (“The Price of Nails” New York Times, 5/7/15). Manicure industry wage theft is common. For example, nail salons often do not pay newly hired manicurists the required minimum wages for work. While nail salon workers are usually considered “tipped employees” and paid a reduced minimum wage, salon owners often fail to make up the difference between the reduced and full minimum wage when tips are insufficient to allow the technicians to earn at least the full minimum wage and overtime for all hours worked. Many nail salons also do not pay the required minimum wage for weeks or months of training. Some nail salons also illegally require new manicurists to pay a training fee, such $100 to $200, to begin work at the nail salon or to learn a new skill. Nail salons also dock the tips of nail technicians for minor incidents such as spilling a bottle of nail polish. In one nail salon lawsuit, the workers alleged they were paid $1.50 per hour for working a sixty-six (66) hour workweek, paid nothing on slow days, and charged for drinking water. Many nail salon workers are part of a vulnerable population because they are in the country illegally, are undocumented workers, and speak limited English. The wage laws, however, protect even undocumented workers from wage theft.

If your employer or former employer violated your wage rights, call a wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 1-800-995-9243 for a free consultation.

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Florida Minimum Wage Increases to $8.05

Samara Bober — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 14:20:12 +0000

Effective January 1, 2015, the Florida minimum wage will increase from $7.93 to $8.05 per hour. The increase is required by a Florida constitutional amendment establishing a minimum wage for the state, and requiring that the minimum wage be adjusted based on inflation and the Consumer Price Index.

The increased minimum wages for 2015 also applies to tipped employees. Tipped employees must receive a direct wage of at least $5.03 per hour, in addition to tips received. In order for an employer to take a tip credit (i.e. pay a tipped employee $3.02 less than the full Florida minimum wage), the tipped employee’s tips must make up the difference between the reduced direct wage and the full minimum wage, and the employer must inform the employee of its intent to take a tip credit. If a tipped employee’s direct wage plus tips do not equal the full $8.05 per hour minimum wage, the employer must make up the shortage.

An employee who has not been paid the correct minimum wage has the right to bring a lawsuit in court to recover unpaid wages, liquidated damages, attorney’s fees and costs. If your employer has violated your wage rights, call a wage and hour lawyer at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE (9523) for a free consultation.

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Exotic Dancers Win Minimum Wage Lawsuit

Samara Bober — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 14:22:11 +0000

A court has determined that exotic dancers who performed at Rick’s Cabaret, an adult nightclub in New York, were employees covered by federal and state wage laws. A class action consisting of strippers sued the night club where they worked for unpaid minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York wage laws. The gentlemen’s club did not pay the dancers any wages, took a portion of the dancers’ performance fees, and imposed fines if the dancers violated certain rules. The adult nightclub claimed unsuccessfully that the dancers were not covered by the minimum wage laws because they were independent contractors. The court determined the exotic dancers were employees, not independent contractors, because the club exercised so much control over the adult dancers that it could be described as “micromanagement.” For example, the club required the exotic dancers to work eight hour shifts, wear stiletto heels that were a least 4 inches high, prohibited body glitter, and required any tattoos to be covered by make-up. The court in the Rick’s Cabaret case also rejected the employer’s argument that the performance fees paid to the dancers by customers could be used to meet the employer’s wage requirements because the employer did not make the performance fees part of its gross receipts, and distribute from its gross receipts some of those performance fees back to the exotic dancers. Thus, the court held that the performance fees were tips in which the gentlemen’s club was not allowed share, and were not service fees. The court’s conclusion in the Rick’s Cabaret case that the exotic dancers were covered by the wage laws was in line with many other courts. It also followed an $8,000,000 class action settlement between New York City’s Penthouse Executive Club and its adult dancers.

If you believe your employer has been illegally treating you as an independent contractor, has been stealing some of your tips, or violating the overtime and unpaid wage laws in Florida, call our unpaid wage attorney at Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-9243 for a fee consultation.

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Prepaid Wage Cards May Violate Wage Laws

Samara Bober — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:23:41 +0000

An increasing number of mostly hourly workers are being paid their wages by prepaid cards instead of by check or direct deposit. Employees are able to use these prepaid cards like debit cards to withdraw their pay at an A.T.M. But in most cases, using these prepaid cards requires the employee to pay a fee. For example, prepaid payroll card providers may charge a fee to make a withdrawal at an A.T.M., a fee to receive a paper statement, a fee to replace a lost card, overdraft fees, transfer fees, and even a fee for inactivity for not using the prepaid card. After the fees for use of these prepaid payroll cards are taken into account, some employees can end up making less than the minimum for hours worked. If your employer pays you your wages with a prepaid payroll card, call Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE (9243) for a free consultation about whether the prepaid card fees being deducted from your wages violates minimum wage or overtime wage laws.

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Unpaid Internships May Violate Wage Laws

Samara Bober — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:25:15 +0000

Employers are not allowed to refuse to pay minimum wages and overtime merely because they label workers as “interns.” While an unpaid internship can provide a valuable experience for some people, it also may result in a wage violation for an employer. An example of internship wage violations is a lawsuit brought by unpaid interns alleging overtime and minimum wage violations committed by Fox Searchlight regarding the interns’ work on the film Black Swan. In determining whether an internship may be unpaid, the court looked at six factors: “1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment; 2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern; 3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff; 4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern, and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded; 5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and 6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.” Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures. The court determined that two production interns who had brought the lawsuit were improperly classified as unpaid interns when they actually were employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and entitled to wages. The interns were providing “an immediate advantage to their employer and performing low-level tasks not requiring specialized training.” The judge also allowed the case to move forward as a class action on behalf of a group of Fox Searchlight interns. This ruling interprets the trainee exception narrowly, and sets the bar very high for not paying interns.

Many people just starting their careers feel pressure to work in unpaid positions to enhance their resumes, but often such unpaid internships do not increase the odds of obtaining a paid position. Moreover, many interns realize their work should be paid, but they are afraid to complain because they fear losing their position. If you worked the time, however, you may be entitled under the law to be paid for it. For example, under the current federal minimum wage of $7.25, if you worked in an unpaid internship for forty-five hours per week for ten weeks, you may be entitled to $3,116 in unpaid minimum wages and $584.50 in unpaid overtime wages. If you have been working in an unpaid internship, call Bober & Bober, P.A. at 800-995-WAGE (9243) for a free consultation about whether you were working as an employee and are entitled to overtime and minimum wages.

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