Florida Senate - 2026                                    SB 1412
       
       
        
       By Senator Martin
       
       
       
       
       
       33-00113A-26                                          20261412__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to minimum wage requirements;
    3         providing a short title; amending s. 448.110, F.S.;
    4         exempting an employer from state minimum wage
    5         requirements for specified employees; prohibiting
    6         certain work-based learning opportunities from lasting
    7         longer than a specified timeframe; authorizing
    8         employees to voluntarily opt out of the state minimum
    9         wage requirements by signing a waiver; prohibiting an
   10         employer from coercing an employee into opting out of
   11         the state minimum wage; providing requirements for the
   12         waiver to be effective for a minor employee; requiring
   13         employers to pay an employee at or above the federal
   14         minimum wage; providing that an employee’s waiver to
   15         opt out of the state minimum wage is only valid for a
   16         specified timeframe; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “On-the-Job
   21  Workforce Training Act.”
   22         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 448.110, Florida
   23  Statutes, is amended to read:
   24         448.110 State minimum wage; annual wage adjustment;
   25  enforcement.—
   26         (3)(a) Employers shall pay employees a minimum wage at an
   27  hourly rate of $6.15 for all hours worked in Florida. Only those
   28  individuals entitled to receive the federal minimum wage under
   29  the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, and its
   30  implementing regulations shall be eligible to receive the state
   31  minimum wage pursuant to s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution
   32  and this section. The provisions of ss. 213 and 214 of the
   33  federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as interpreted by applicable
   34  federal regulations and implemented by the Secretary of Labor,
   35  are incorporated herein.
   36         (b)An employer is not subject to the state minimum wage
   37  requirements of this section for an employee who is in a
   38  structured work-study program, internship, preapprenticeship
   39  program, or other similar work-based learning opportunity and
   40  who opts out of receiving the minimum wage. However, such work
   41  based learning opportunity may not last longer than 9 months or
   42  two full-time semesters consisting of at least 15 credit hours
   43  each.
   44         (c)An employee may opt out of receiving the state minimum
   45  wage by voluntarily signing a waiver of his or her right to the
   46  state minimum wage established under this subsection. The waiver
   47  must state that the employee acknowledges his or her right to
   48  the state minimum wage pursuant to s. 24, Art. X of the State
   49  Constitution and this section and that the employee is knowingly
   50  and voluntarily choosing to receive a lesser amount for his or
   51  her work-based learning opportunity as described in paragraph
   52  (b). An employer may not coerce an employee to opt out of
   53  receiving the state minimum wage. If the employee is younger
   54  than 18 years of age, in order for the waiver to be effective,
   55  the employee’s parent or guardian must have agreed and signed
   56  the waiver on behalf of the minor employee at the minor
   57  employee’s request.
   58         (d)Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c), an
   59  employer must pay an employee a wage at or above the federal
   60  minimum wage.
   61         (e)An employee’s waiver to opt out of the state minimum
   62  wage under this subsection is only valid for 9 months after the
   63  date his or her employment with the employer begins. Thereafter,
   64  the employee must be paid at or above the state minimum wage
   65  regardless of his or her position or job title with the
   66  employer.
   67         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.