TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House is set to finalize a proposal that exempts minor-league baseball players from the state’s minimum wage requirements.
On Monday, the Republican-controlled Florida House considered a Senate measure (SB 892). This measure is not as extensive as the House bill, which would have impacted local living-wage ordinances.
House sponsor Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, said the Senate bill would incorporate into the state’s minimum-wage law a carve-out for minor-league baseball players in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
The federal act includes several minimum-wage exemptions, such as for baseball players, casual babysitters, some seasonal amusement workers and border patrol agents.
The law requires baseball players to receive an in-season weekly salary equal to the minimum wage for a 40-hour workweek.
The federal law in 2018 was amended by Congress, setting the minor-league minimum wage at $290 per week, which is equivalent to $7.25 per hour without eligibility for overtime. It is worth noting that the current hourly rate for the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since its last increase in 2009.
In 2020, voters in Florida supported a constitutional amendment that will gradually raise the minimum wage by $1 annually until it reaches $15 on September 30th, 2026. Currently, the minimum wage in Florida is $11 per hour, but it will increase to $12 on September 30th.
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