Disability Law

Federal Minimum Wage Increase Set for Today

By David A. McCranie, Esq.

As mandated by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, the federal minimum wage increases today from $6.55 and hour to $7.25 an hour.  So at least for the moment, the federal minimum wage is higher than the current Florida minimum wage of $7.21 an hour.  But with Florida's minimum wage slated for reconsideration each year, and with no further increases scheduled for the federal minimum wage, the Florida minimum may very well exceed the federal minimum again come January 1, 2010.

All of this matters because the rate for non-professional attendant care benefits for the care of injured workers is tied by statute to the federal minimum wage.  But as I've written here and here, at least two judges of compensation claims have held that the Florida statute has been superseded by the 2005 amendment to the Florida Constitution which mandated a minimum wage for all Florida workers.

Full post as published by Florida Workers’ Compensation Law Blog on July 24, 2009 (boomark / email).