Florida’s New State Laws Hitting the Books This Summer

Quick Hits

• A handful of new Florida laws went into effect on July 1, 2025.
• New legislation changes the number of hours minors may work and their break entitlements and provides increased flexibility for certain minors who are at least 16 years old.
• The Florida minimum wage rate is increasing to $14 per hour for nontipped employees and $10.98 per hour for tipped employees.
• New legislation makes significant changes to workers’ compensation laws in order to give injured employees improved access to care.
• New regulations in the hospitality industry streamline the removal of nonpaying guests and mandate clear disclosure of operational charges in restaurants.

Minors’ Working Hours

The legislature enacted legislation which removes some of the previous limitations on minors’ hours and schedules. Now, employers may schedule minors aged at least 16 years old during the school year without limitation, along with minors aged 14 and 15 who have graduated from high school or are home/virtual-schooled. This means that such minors may now be scheduled to work overnight shifts both during the school term and summer break. The legislature also removed previous break requirements for minor employees. As a result, minors who are at least 16 years old may be scheduled for breaks consistent with the Fair Labor Standards Act and ordinary wage laws.

Minimum Wage

On September 30, 2025, Florida’s minimum wage rate will rise to $14 per hour for nontipped employees and $10.98 per hour for tipped employees. Employers should monitor the U.S. Department of Labor’s recent updates to the minimum salary requirements for several overtime-exempt positions. While currently stayed pending litigation at the federal level, the DOL’s rule published on April 26, 2024 would require that,  to be exempt from overtime pay requirements, employees falling within the executive, administrative, and professional exemption must be paid a minimum of $58,656 per year, or $1,128 per week. The minimum annual compensation required for employees within the highly compensated employee exemption would also increase, up to $151,164 per year.

Workers’ Compensation

This year has also seen significant developments to the workers’ compensation structure. On January 1, 2025, the reimbursement rates for medical providers who treat patients receiving compensation benefits was markedly increased. The rationale in so doing was to incentivize healthcare providers to accept these cases, which, in turn, should expand the quality and access to care available to injured Floridians. In turn, recovery time and outcomes may improve. In addition, Florida law now requires that all employers with workers’ compensation coverage provide their employees who are injured on the job with all medically necessary treatment, care, and assistance throughout their recovery. This includes such ancillary costs as transportation, diagnostic tests and scans, and prescriptions, and can even extend to complications or related conditions.

Hospitality

Employers in the hospitality and lodging businesses should be aware of Chapter 2025-113. Among other things, this statute amends and streamlines the process that businesses may use to remove nonpaying guests from their establishments. According to the law, notice of intent to remove a guest for nonpayment must first be made in text, print, email, or similar communication or posting. The law also gives law enforcement the authority to arrest any nonpaying guest who remains despite such warning. Additionally, the statute now requires that restaurants explicitly notify and disclose any operational charges, automatic gratuities, or similar charges that they will require diners to pay. Finally, the law prohibits third-party websites and vendors from buying and selling restaurant reservations, unless working directly with a particular restaurant.

Restrictive Covenants

In addition, we’ve seen significant employer-friendly development with the legislature’s passage of the Contracts Honoring Opportunity, Investment, Confidentiality, and Economic Growth (CHOICE) Act. The law went into effect without the governor’s signature on July 3, 2025. The CHOICE Act creates two new forms of restrictive covenant agreements for businesses and employees, offering a four-year non-compete agreement with a notice requirement and minimum salary requirement in addition to a four-year garden leave non-compete agreement. The CHOICE Act is in addition to Florida’s existing restrictive covenant laws.

Ogletree Deakins’ Tampa and Miami offices will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Florida, Hospitality, Unfair Competition and Trade Secrets, and Wage and Hour blogs as additional information becomes available.

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