According to federal state and labor laws, Florida minimum wage is the lowest wage that an employer has to pay his employees in Florida. Seasonal recreational workers, agriculture workers, casual babysitters, and few other jobs are considered exempted from minimum wage laws in Florida. The minimum wage laws in Florida defines the rights of the employers or employees including the rate paid per hour, increment in rate timely, protection against discrimination in employees, and about the recovery of the unpaid wages of the employees.

Agency of Workforce Innovation, Florida that is called AWI calculates the minimum wage in Florida every year. The wage calculated in the year 2010 by AWI is $7.25 per hour which is the federal rate.

Minimum wage is the legal right of each employee who works for the employer or provide his services to the employer. AWI governs every thing related to payment of wages to the employees in Florida including how many dollars have to be paid to the employees for their overtime. If you are a resident of Florida and work there, you must understand and keep check of Florida minimum wage laws. Otherwise, you could have been deceived by your employer as he might not be paying you full wages according to the services you are providing.

Following are few key points about the minimum wages in Florida:

§         In 2010, the national minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and the minimum wage for the state of Florida was kept the same. According to federal law of Florida, employer has to pay the maximum wage out of both; the minimum national wage or state minimum wage. This law also states that the employees who are not paid the minimum wage by the employer can bring a civil action against his employer. The state attorney general can take the enforcement action to enforce the minimum wage.

§         About the payments of overtime of employees, Florida follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. If an hourly employee work for more than forty hours per week, the employer has to pay for the overtime. The salaried employees are considered exempted from the overtime law.

§         Unemployment compensation is provided in the state of Florida. If a worker has lost his job due to no fault of his own, government of Florida provides them unemployment benefits. The laid-off or fired employees can put a request for unemployment benefits at the website of AWI, Florida. The money they will receive per week will solely depend upon the former compensations they have received. A fired employer will only be eligible to receive unemployment benefits iff he is actively looking for a new job.