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State law lookup › Unpaid wages › Florida

Unpaid wages in Florida: what the law says

My employer owes me wages

State law

What the statute says

Final pay detail
Florida has NO state statute setting a deadline for paying final wages after discharge or resignation. Verified by reading the official section-by-section listing of Fla. Stat. ch. 448 (General Labor Regulations, ss. 448.01-448.111 and 448.20-448.26) and ch. 532 (Devices Issued in Payment for Labor, ss.
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532.01, 532.02, 532.04): neither chapter contains a final-paycheck deadline or a minimum pay-frequency requirement. Timing is therefore governed by the employment contract / employer policy, with the federal FLSA and Fla. Stat. s. 448.110 (state minimum wage) as the substantive floors. Fla. Stat. s. 448.08 separately authorizes attorney's fees for successful litigants in actions for unpaid wages.

State minimum wage
$14.00 / hour

$14.00/hr through 2026-09-29; $15.00/hr from 2026-09-30 (Fla. Const. art. X § 24(c): the rate increases each September 30 by $1.00 "until the Minimum Wage reaches $15.00 per hour on September 30th, 2026").

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Tipped direct cash wage $10.98 through 2026-09-29 and $11.98 thereafter, derived from the constitutionally frozen 2003 FLSA tip credit of $3.02 ($5.15 - $2.13). From September 30, 2027 the rate is CPI-W indexed, published and effective the following January 1. Back-wage computations spanning 2026-09-30 must use both rates. Fla. Stat. § 448.110(3) still recites an obsolete $6.15; the constitutional rate controls.

Overtime beyond federal law
No Florida overtime rule stronger than the federal FLSA. Verified by reading the full section listing of Fla. Stat. ch. 448: the chapter contains no general overtime-premium requirement (no daily-overtime rule of the California type). Overtime is governed by the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. s. 207. Note Fla. Stat. s.
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448.077 preempts local (county/municipal) regulation of employee scheduling.

Liquidated damages
Fla. Stat. s. 448.110(6)(c)1.: a person who prevails recovers "the full amount of any unpaid back wages unlawfully withheld plus the same amount as liquidated damages" and shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees and costs.
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Liquidated damages may be reduced if the employer proves good faith and reasonable grounds for believing it was in compliance. Separately, s. 448.110(7): the Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce the section and may seek a fine of $1,000 per willful violation, payable to the state.

Time limit to sue
4 years

TIERED BY THEORY. Five years for a WILLFUL violation of Fla. Stat. § 448.110 (§ 95.11(2)(d)); four years for a non-willful § 448.110 violation (§ 95.11(3)(p)); TWO years for a generic action to recover wages or overtime or damages or penalties concerning payment of wages (§ 95.11(5)(d)). Fla. Const. art.

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X § 24(e) independently fixes the four/five-year split for constitutional minimum-wage claims. The published 4 is correct only for the non-willful § 448.110 theory. Which period governs an ordinary unpaid-final-wages claim is a contested question of Florida case law and is NOT settled here.

Who handles complaints
Florida Office of the Attorney General (statutory enforcer of the state minimum wage under Fla. Stat. s. 448.110(7)); FloridaCommerce (Florida Department of Commerce) calculates and publishes the annual minimum wage rate and the required employee notice under ss. 448.109-448.110.
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Florida abolished its state Department of Labor and has NO state agency that adjudicates general private unpaid-wage claims - a s. 448.110 minimum-wage claim is brought by the employee as a civil action after the mandatory 15-day pre-suit notice, and non-minimum-wage unpaid-wage claims go to court or to the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division under the FLSA.

Florida abolished its state Department of Labor and has NO state agency that adjudicates a private unpaid-wage claim. The Office of the Attorney General enforces the state MINIMUM WAGE under Fla. Stat. § 448.110(7); it does not process individual final-paycheck complaints.

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FloridaCommerce calculates and publishes the annual rate and the required notice. The private route is a § 448.110(6) written demand followed by suit; the federal route is the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division under the FLSA.

Read this before relying on the numbers above

If your claim is that you were paid less than Florida's minimum wage, the statute requires you to give your employer written notice before you can file suit. The notice has to state the minimum wage you say you were owed, the dates and hours you actually worked, and the total amount you say is unpaid. Your employer then has 15 calendar days to pay or otherwise resolve the claim, and only after that can a case be filed. This is a step the statute requires, not an optional courtesy.

Read it yourself

Official sources. If a number below matters to your case, open the statute and read it — laws get amended, and cities often stack stricter local rules on top.

Last checked: 2026-08-17

Our full guide for this state

Florida Unpaid Wages Demand Letter: State Wage Laws →

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Jab Today is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. This page describes how the statutes read, which is a different thing from what will happen in your case. Laws are amended and local ordinances often add stricter rules. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.