Johannah Estep, president of Goldcoast Beef, an Arby's franchise, says few of her employees make minimum wage, but when the rate goes up, she has to give raises to all hourly workers. |
When Democrats take control of Congress this month, one of the first items on their agenda will be raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 by 2008. The response in Florida, where the state minimum wage is $6.67 this year, has been subdued so far.
"I haven't heard anybody say anything about it," says Allen Douglas, Florida director for the National Federation of Independent Business. "So far, nobody's complained."
One reason is that Florida's low unemployment rate -- around 3.1% -- forces business owners to pay most workers more than minimum wage already. "You have jobs looking for people" instead of the other way around, says Penny Morey, managing director of CBIZ Human Capital Services in Boca Raton.
Still, some small businesses say there is a ripple effect with any minimum wage increase, that affects a business's bottom line and adds to inflationary pressures.
Johannah Estep, president of an Arby's franchise with nine restaurants in Broward, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, says her restaurants pay the minimum wage only to 14-year-old and 15-year-old workers. But when the minimum wage goes up, she has to give increases to all hourly workers, forcing her to raise restaurant prices, eliminate jobs or both.
One wage initiative that won't play in Florida is enacting a higher minimum wage for most or all businesses in a given city. In 2003, San Francisco and Santa Fe, N.M., enacted citywide minimum wage laws that this year require employers to pay $8.82 and $9.50 respectively. That same year, Florida passed a law prohibiting local governments from requiring employers to pay minimum wage other than the federal minimum wage.
A separate movement -- called a "living wage" ordinance -- is quietly gaining traction in Florida and across the U.S. by some local governments, however. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties along with the cities of Miami Beach, Orlando and Miami require many service businesses to pay workers about $10 to $12 per hour if they do business with the county or city. "This doesn't have the impact in the labor market that a minimum wage does," says Bruce Nissen, director of the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at Florida International University
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