Save State Minimum Wage!

The FL Minimum Wage amendment to the constitution  was passed OVERWHELMINGLY by 71% of the voters. 300,000 employers will immediately receive a $1 raise as the state minimum wage rises to $6.15 an hour on May 2^nd. Over 850,000 workers will see a boost in their wages through a ripple effect. Over a million working families will come closer to rising out of poverty, depending less upon public assistance.

It is imperative that legislation weakening enforcement of the minimum wage   is defeated and that business lobbyists do not influence the legislature in implementing Floridian’s constitutional right to a state minimum wage.

HB 1709 (Simmons) and SB 2638 (Alexander) would:

• Eliminate penalties for employers if they pay their employees the wages they illegally withheld within 15 days. Employers could realistically rob the same employee or multiple employees repeatedly without ever having to pay damages or fines

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• Places the burden of record keeping and enforcement upon the employee.

• Unconstitutionally alter the language of the constitution:

• Eliminates the right to file class action law suits- a right specified in the amendment- by requiring plaintiffs to identify themselves and their damages before filing a suit. 

• Limits the amount of compensation (unpaid wages only) an employee can receive if the employer can prove that he/she was ignorant of the law. The amendment states that employees are entitled to compensation.

• Provides for no enforcement authority, while eliminating employees’ rights to challenge illegal behavior in court.

 Instead of providing funding for employer and employee education or establishing strong enforcement authority, this bill would unconstitutionally deny workers the ability to enforce the minimum wage increase.

For more information contact:

Laura Mullins, ACORN, flacornmw@acorn.org

561-512-7579