It looks like those who work for minimum wage in Florida will be seeing an extra 14 cents on their paychecks come January 1.
This means that the old rate of $7.79 an hour will be going up to $7.93 an hour as the New Year becomes official. The minimum wage for workers who work for tips will also rise by 14 cents to $4.91 per hour.
Basically, via a constitutional amendment passed in 2004, the minimum wage in Florida is tied to inflation. This is what determines how much it goes up.
Some say that the problem with a minimum wage hike may come in the form of businesses having to deal with rising costs. This means some hours might be cut, or they may stop hiring altogether.
"I feel so bad that when workers are saying, 'Yes, we need the money and we'd love to have it' and businesses are saying, 'If we do that we're going to incur costs and hurt the very people we're employing,"' Candace Moody with Work Source told WTEV last week.
On December 4, speaking on the economy, President Obama said, "It's well past the time to raise a minimum wage. It will be good for our economy. It will be good for our families."
According to a study published by Georgetown University's Center on Education and Workforce, Florida is a state of mostly low-wage and/or low-skilled jobs.
The 2014 wage hike itself is below the average increase.
The new minimum wage of $7.93 an hour is expected to benefit roughly 416,000 working Floridians.
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