TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)- With the new year will come a new set of laws taking effect on Jan. 1.
One of those laws will be the long-awaited increase of Florida’s minimum wage.
Currently, Florida’s minimum wage is $8.46 and $5.44 for tipped employees.
Based on that minimum wage, a study was produced last summer saying someone would have to work approximately 108 hours each week to be able to afford a two-bedroom home in the Tampa Bay area.
With the new law taking effect, the Department of Economic Opportunity estimates that will bump wages 1.12 percent, to $8.56 per hour, and $5.54 for tipped employees in 2020.
The increase comes after attorney John Morgan gathered enough signatures to have a $15 minimum wage considered on the 2020 general-election ballot.
Florida has had a minimum wage increase each year since 2017, ranging from five cents to 21 cents this year.
Nationally, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
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