Florida’s minimum wage will increase to $6.67 an hour next year, a 27-cent increase to match inflation as required by an initiative passed two years ago.The state’s minimum wage went up to $6.15 an hour in 2005 because of a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2004, and then went up to $6.40 this year.
The amendment tied the state’s minimum wage to inflation, requiring an adjustment each year.
The $6.67 rate will start Jan. 1, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation announced Thursday.
The increase puts the state’s minimum wage at $1.52 more than the current $5.15 federal minimum wage. At least 13 other states, however, have minimum wage rates higher than the federal standard.
For workers whose tips are counted as part of their wage, the minimum will go to $3.65 an hour Jan. 1, plus the worker’s tips.
About 400,000 of the 9 million people in the Florida work force earn the minimum wage, according to Agency for Workforce Innovation statistics.