TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Wednesday, a new bill aiming to change minimum wage requirements in Florida got approved by its first committee, putting it one step closer to becoming law.
The bill — HB 221 — was filed late last year by state Rep. Ryan Chamberlin (R-Belleview), who also backed similar legislation during the previous session.
While the bill doesn’t eliminate the minimum wage as a whole, it does lay out some exceptions for workers in the following positions:
- Structured work-study
- Internship
- Pre-apprenticeship program
- Similar work-based learning opportunity
Under HB 221, employers in these situations wouldn’t have to abide by the state minimum wage, though that’s only if the employees choose to opt out by signing a waiver.
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That said, the bill also limits any sort of below-minimum wage learning opportunity to either nine months or two full-time semesters that consist of at least 15 credit hours each.
As of 2009, the federal minimum wage was set at $7.25 per hour, though Florida voters approved an amendment that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour later this year. Currently, the state minimum wage is $14 per hour.
Chamberlin wrote the following for why he filed the bill:
“The minimum wage in Florida as currently codified in our state constitution has become a weight on Florida’s economy and a hindrance to workers seeking to improve their personal finances. Wage controls are always enacted with good intentions but lead to a decrease in opportunities.
We must seek alternative options like career development and continued education to ensure workers are receiving the skills needed to compete in today’s economy.
This bill would allow an employee to waive the right to minimum wage if he or she was receiving other value in an internship, pre-apprenticeship, or on-the-job workforce training.
This legislation allows the option for an employer to offer on-the-job training positions to completely inexperienced individuals in exchange for the value in learning a skill or trade that could enhance their long-term, income-earning future.”
Florida Rep. Ryan Chamberlin (R-Belleview)
While Chamberlin’s bill last year ultimately died, this latest attempt managed to pass its first committee on Wednesday, meaning it has two more to pass through before it can go before the full House.
During Wednesday’s committee meeting, Chamberlin said the bill would help students and young people get more access to learning opportunities by taking labor costs off the backs of employers.
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“We live in a society where it’s become the norm to spend $25, $50,000, or even $100,000 per year in college tuition to learn skills and a degree with the hope for a higher-paying job at the end of the journey,” he said. “Many careers, however, do not require a degree, and many of these careers can lead to even higher incomes because of the skills learned and value delivered.”
On the flip side, state Rep. Yvonne Hinson (D-Gainesville) broached concerns about businesses possibly trying to pressure workers to opt out of the minimum wage.
“What are the penalties that employers will face if they either coerce employees to opt out of being paid minimum wage or if they fire someone after they work nine months?” she asked.
“That’ll be up to the courts to decide, but they’ll definitely be in violation of the law if they go outside of the boundaries of this bill,” Chamberlin replied.
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Chamberlin also argued that the nine-month cap would help to mitigate any potential abuses of the proposal by employers.
But he added that an amendment to the bill is on the way that would limited how long someone is allowed to participate in the “opt-out scenario,” which aims to prevent employers from consistently hiring the same person for below-wage labor.
“We don’t want this to be an ongoing thing where they’re jumping from scenario to scenario,” he stated.
If approved, HB 221 is set to take effect on July 1.