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As part of our legal advice series, Regina M. Campbell, Esq., Managing Partner of The Campbell Law Group P.A. (TCLG), (tclgfirm.com) offers practical insight into key employment law issues affecting Florida businesses. She outlines major developments heading into 2026, including wage increases, overtime compliance, and the growing use of AI in the workplace. Read on and learn how proactive legal guidance can help employers reduce risk and plan effectively. Miami Living: What are the most significant employment law updates impacting Florida businesses in 2026? Regina M. Campbell: In our work with Florida employers, one of the biggest updates heading into 2026 is the final scheduled increase in the state’s minimum wage. On September 30, 2026, Florida’s minimum wage is set to rise to $15.00 per hour for non-tipped employees under the voter-approved constitutional amendment. For many businesses, this is far more than a simple payroll change. It calls for careful budgeting, updated payroll practices, and a full review of compensation planning. We have seen how quickly wage issues can escalate when employers fall behind. Claims under the Florida Minimum Wage Act can involve back pay, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees, and intentional violations may also trigger civil penalties. For organizations with large hourly workforces or tight margins, those exposures can become costly in a very short period of time. Beyond wage updates, employers should also pay attention to the compliance side of onboarding and verification. Noncompliance can lead to fines, increased scrutiny, and, in some industries, even licensing consequences. Businesses benefit from documented onboarding procedures and dependable vendor systems that consistently capture and retain verification steps. We are also watching developments, such as the 2025 CHOICE Act, particularly those education-related provisions that may influence employer obligations and workforce planning in the coming year. Miami Living: How should employers prepare for evolving federal overtime and wage regulations? Regina M. Campbell: Federal overtime and wage rules continue to shift and, in our experience, the businesses that do best are the ones that treat compliance as an ongoing process, not a one-time project. That starts with having the right guidance in place. Many employers benefit from working with trusted legal advisors—whether outside employment counsel or in-house general counsel—so that they receive steady updates as rules and interpretations evolve. From an operational standpoint, we often recommend building and maintaining a clear internal list of employees who regularly work overtime, along with periodic classification audits to confirm who is truly