TALLAHASSEE, FL – Three leading business organizations celebrate today’s ruling by the 11th Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County invalidating the wage ordinance recently adopted by the City of Miami Beach. The Florida Retail Federation, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and Florida Chamber of Commerce filed the suit against the ordinance proposing to raise the minimum wage in spite of a state preemption, because it was not valid under section 218.077 F.S. which preempts local minimum wages. The suit was filed by Charles Caulkins of the South Florida law firm Fisher Philips LLC.
“This is great news for Florida retailers and the entire business community, as this ruling does not place an additional mandate on local businesses by requiring Miami Beach business owners to provide wages above what the state has previously established in law,” said R. Scott Shalley, FRF President & CEO. “We thank our coalition partners for their commitment to protecting businesses, and we look forward to doing our part to protect our members and ensure that Florida remains a great location to start and grow a business.”
“We applaud this ruling which preserves the strength of Florida’s tourism-based economy and substantiates our belief that local governments shouldn’t dictate the relationship between an employer and employee. This is a significant win for Florida’s hospitality industry and the 1.4 million employees the tourism industry supports. We hope this ruling will serve as a guiding beacon for the entire nation to follow in limiting regulatory overreach by local governments,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.
“The Florida Chamber of Commerce is focused on creating good jobs and opportunities, and today’s ruling will help ensure that a patchwork of government wage regulations and mandates doesn’t harm job seekers and small businesses from greater opportunities toward prosperity,” said Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
The City of Miami Beach recently passed a city ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $10.31/hour starting January 1, 2018, and increase it $1.00/year until it reaches $13.31 in 2021. FRF and its coalition partners argued that the ordinance disregarded a state statute which established the State of Florida will determine one consistent minimum wage for the entire state. This state statute allows for local government entities to adopt ordinances to exceed this wage for those working or contracting with the local government.