Labor Laws for Salaried Employees in Florida
While hourly employees get paid by the amount of hours they spend working, employees get an agreed weekly, bi-weekly or monthly wage. The FLSA provides rules on how the salaried employees should be paid including for overtime.
The employer is required to pay the agreed amount of wage at the agreed intervals. The wage can make up part of the employees’ pay or it can be the full payment. The pay period salary is often determined by dividing the employee’s annual pay by the number of annual periods weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Criteria for Exempt Workers
According to the FLSA, exempt workers are those excluded from any overtime pay while nonexempt workers may accept minimum wages as well as overtime payments. Most of the nonexempt workers include hourly employees while the salaried employees are exempt. The employer is prohibited from labeling employees as exempt at will or to avoid paying overtime. To meet the criteria for exempt status, the employee must have met the FLSA’s job and wage-related requirements. They can then access payment on salary basis in which case, they qualify for overtime pay if worked.
For doctors, school teachers, and other careers, the employees can be exempt while still receiving an hourly pay. You can always consult your employer or state laws to get clarification on exempt employees.
Working Hours and Pay Requirements for Salaried Employees
According to the FLSA, salaried employees should receive full payment irrespective of the hours and days he works. However, if a salaried employee fails to turn up for work for the whole week, the employer is not required to pay anything for that week. The employer is prohibited from reducing the employee’s pay if work is reduced or unavailable as long as the employee is ready to work. The employer is also not allowed to reduce pay for half-day absences. That means if an employer takes a half-day off, they still get the full pay for the day.
The employer is, however, allowed to make permissible deductions to the pay in instances such as unpaid disciplinary suspensions, overuse of benefit days, and personal leaves. If an employee becomes a common feature in permissible deductions, they can lose their exempt status.

Florida Labor Laws for Hourly Employees
There are no labor laws regarding hourly wages in Florida, but there are federal provisions in the FLSA for hourly workers that guarantee their protection and a minimum wage including overtime hours.
Independent contractors are not included in the provisions for hour protections and a minimum wage provided by the law. The classification of workers in exempt and non-exempt allows the employer to pay and provide essential services to the employees as per the law. Exempt employees are usually executives, professionals, administrators, and computer employees.
Florida labor laws provide a minimum wage of $8.46 per hour which is $1.21 more than the federal minimum wage. The minimum wage in Florida is subject to change annually per state law.
Disputes regarding wages and hours are the most common in employment law and Florida Child labor laws. It is in your best interests as an employee to get legal help if you have enough reason to believe that your employer has been denying you meal breaks, or any other employment concern. Hiring an experienced Florida employment attorney could iron out things for you and give you peace of mind.
Lunch Break Labor Laws in Florida
There are no Florida or federal labor laws that require employers to provide all their employees with the time off for lunch or short breaks during work day. However, it shouldn’t surprise you if you get meals and rest breaks from a Florida employer. Employees must be compensated for shorter breaks allowed during work days since they are not required to take these breaks in the first place.
While workers receive more protection in some states with a number of them requiring employers to provide employees with meal and rest breaks, Florida doesn’t. Therefore, employers in Florida are not required to provide their employees with either rest breaks or meal breaks. However, recognizing that employees need to be comfortable and replenished to be productive at the workplace, most employers allow the breaks as a policy or custom.
Common Labor Law Violations
As discussed above, there are different labor laws in Florida that protect employees and employers’ rights in proper payment of wages and other working conditions. However, violations of the FLSA are not uncommon in the state. Despite employees’ hard work, some of them are the victims of unfair loss of their hard-earned money. Violation of labor loss is especially common in smaller businesses, and in most cases, the employers are not aware of the violations. However, whether intentional or not, the affected employees should recover all the rightful pay they had lost. Here are some of the most common labor law violations in Florida:
Failure to Pay Minimum Wage
The minimum wage in Florida currently stands at $8.46. Every employee in the state should receive at least this amount for every hour spent at work. While the requirement may seem relatively straightforward, employers have often failed to fulfill the minimum wage to their workers including “off the clock” hours. Most of these cases are as a result of the employers’ failure to account for hours worked.
Failure to Pay Overtime Wages
Any work time exceeding 40 hours a week must be compensated at one and a half times the employee’s hourly rate. However, most employees do not enjoy their right to receive the proper overtime payments. That is mostly as a result of lack of clarity on the employer’s part on which workers are exempt from overtime laws and those who are not.
Misclassification
Upon hiring, the individual must be classified as either an employee or an independent contractor. The distinction is necessary since employees are protected under the FLSA laws while independent contractors are not. Moreover, employees are entitled to a horde of additional benefits that independent contractors do not enjoy such as unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. In the unfortunate instance that an individual is misclassified, they are bound to lose significant benefits that they should be entitle to.
Illegal Pay Deductions
Most employers believe that they can deduct from employees’ paychecks to make up for various costs in work supplies or employee uniforms. However, these deductions often result in failure of paychecks meeting the required minimum wage. There are available procedures for reclamation of costs from employees whenever necessary.
Some employers may even intentionally deduct payments that employees do not know of or do not easily notice in an attempt to illegally make some money while breaching the FLSA wage requirements.
Do I Need A Lawyer?
Based on the severity and nature of the alleged violation, labor law cases tend to differ significantly. It is, therefore, essential that you give your case to professional and experienced hands if you believe your employer has violated any of your wage rights, or any other working conditions. While some cases might be a simple misunderstanding, you could be a victim of long-term extortion without your knowledge.
If you have any suspicions that you are being unfairly treated at your work station it is advisable to get the services of a skilled Florida labor law attorney and get your situation solved as soon as possible.