Minimum wage rises to $7.67 in 2012

Ryan Laconte, 21, recently got a minimum-wage job at a McDonald's in Boca Raton, and he's happy to have it.

On Jan. 1, he and other minimum-wage earners will get a raise: a 36-cent bump in Florida's minimum wage, which rises to $7.67 an hour from $7.31 on Jan. 1, 2012. The state rate must keep pace with inflation, due to a constitutional amendment in 2004.

"That sounds good," said Laconte about the automatic pay hike. The extra pay per hour will help the family income, he said. "I live with my grandparents. I'm trying to take care of them," Laconte said.

For workers, the uptick in Florida's minimum hourly wage is welcome news to help meet increased living costs, but some employers say it could prompt them to cut workers' hours or automate more work.

Only about 253,000 workers in Florida earn the minimum wage, mostly at restaurants, bars, retail stores and some startup companies, according to the state workforce agency. For tipped employees, businesses will be required to pay $4.65 an hour in 2012, with the remainder made up in tips.

"Most employers are already paying higher than the minimum wage," said Rebecca Rust, chief economist for the state agency.

Laconte is an entry-level worker hired at the minimum wage, but his boss Phil Gray said he generally pay $8 or more an hour at his six McDonald's restaurants in Broward and Palm Beach counties. "The people we've hired lately we've gone ahead and given them the new minimum wage," he said.

The increased minimum wage won't affect his hiring plans, said Gray, owner of six area restaurants. "It's not a big impact. I still need to hire another 20," he said.

But Paul Flanigan, co-owner of several Quarterdeck restaurants in South Florida, said he may have to cut hours slightly to keep his payroll expenses in check in the new year.

"Wages go up, but their hours go down," said Flanigan, who said the restaurant job is a second job for many of his workers — they don't depend on it for a living. "Minimum wage is not a living wage," he said.

Chuck Pheterson, co-owner of Totally Bananas, a Davie chocolate-banana maker, said he'll get creative to accommodate the wage hike. He'll keep his three minimum-wage employees, but also will invest in automation to help his workers be more productive.

"If you can triple your output, then it's not a big impact," Pheterson said.

The rise will benefit about 381,000 workers in the state, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a research group. More than 226,000 are directly affected because they're at or below the new minimum wage; 155,000 others also may see a pay hike, as a result.

"Pay scales may be adjusted upward slightly," said Tsedeye Gebreselassie, a lawyer for the National Employment Law Project. The group, which represents low-income workers, filed a lawsuit against Florida's workforce agency over its minimum-wage calculation.