(2) The purpose of this section is to provide measures appropriate for the implementation of s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution, in accordance with authority granted to the Legislature pursuant to s. 24(f), Art. X of the State Constitution. To implement s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution, the Department of Economic Opportunity is designated as the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.
(3) Employers shall pay employees a minimum wage at an hourly rate of $6.15 for all hours worked in Florida. Only those individuals entitled to receive the federal minimum wage under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, and its implementing regulations shall be eligible to receive the state minimum wage pursuant to s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution and this section. The provisions of ss. 213 and 214 of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, as interpreted by applicable federal regulations and implemented by the Secretary of Labor, are incorporated herein.
(4)
(b) The Department of Revenue and the Department of Economic Opportunity shall annually publish the amount of the adjusted state minimum wage and the effective date. Publication shall occur by posting the adjusted state minimum wage rate and the effective date on the Internet home pages of the Department of Economic Opportunity and the Department of Revenue by October 15 of each year. In addition, to the extent funded in the General Appropriations Act, the Department of Economic Opportunity shall provide written notice of the adjusted rate and the effective date of the adjusted state minimum wage to all employers registered in the most current reemployment assistance database. Such notice shall be mailed by November 15 of each year using the addresses included in the database. Employers are responsible for maintaining current address information in the reemployment assistance database. The Department of Economic Opportunity is not responsible for failure to provide notice due to incorrect or incomplete address information in the database. The Department of Economic Opportunity shall provide the Department of Revenue with the adjusted state minimum wage rate information and effective date in a timely manner.
(6)
(b) The employer shall have 15 calendar days after receipt of the notice to pay the total amount of unpaid wages or otherwise resolve the claim to the satisfaction of the person aggrieved. The statute of limitations for bringing an action pursuant to this section shall be tolled during this 15-day period. If the employer fails to pay the total amount of unpaid wages or otherwise resolve the claim to the satisfaction of the person aggrieved, then the person aggrieved may bring a claim for unpaid minimum wages, the terms of which must be consistent with the contents of the notice.
(c)
2. Upon prevailing in an action brought pursuant to this section, aggrieved persons shall also be entitled to such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to remedy the violation, including, without limitation, reinstatement in employment and injunctive relief. However, any entitlement to legal or equitable relief in an action brought under s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution shall not include punitive damages.
(8) The statute of limitations for an action brought pursuant to this section shall be for the period of time specified in s. 95.11 beginning on the date the alleged violation occurred.
(9) Actions brought pursuant to this section may be brought as a class action pursuant to Rule 1.220, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. In any class action brought pursuant to this section, the plaintiffs shall prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the individual identity of each class member and the individual damages of each class member.
(10) This section shall constitute the exclusive remedy under state law for violations of s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution.
(11) Except for calculating the adjusted state minimum wage and publishing the initial state minimum wage and any annual adjustments thereto, the authority of the Department of Economic Opportunity in implementing s. 24, Art. X of the State Constitution, pursuant to this section, shall be limited to that authority expressly granted by the Legislature.
