In Florida:
- The tax rate on gas increases .03%
- Minimum wage increases to $8.05 per hour and the tipped employee minimum cash wage increases to $5.03 per hour.
- To view important new laws for all states see: http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/stateandlocalresources/pages/new-laws-2015.aspx#sthash.rbMXJre5.dpuf
In all states:
- Federal employees (except members of Congress and political appointees) will receive a 1% pay raise. This will be the first federal pay raise since 2010. It was signed into law on December, 19, 2014 by President Obama via Executive Order 13686.
- Uniformed military service members will receive a 1% pay raise via the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
- New OSHA record keeping and reporting requirements for work-related injuries go into effect. Employers must notify OSHA within eight hours of any incident in which an employee is killed (previously reporting was not required unless three employees were killed). Employers must report work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours (it was not previously required to report these injuries).
- Under the ACA’s Employer Mandate, play or pay requirements take effect for employers with 100+ full-time employees. This comes after a one-year delay. Employers with 100 or more full time employees who fail to offer the minimum health insurance requirements may be subject to an assessment, while employers with 50-100 full time employees will have until 2016 before facing penalties. More info is at the Small Business Administration and Internal Revenue Service.
- Value-based payments for doctors (the incorporation of cost and quality data in calculating Medicare payments) will start. Practices of 10 or more physicians will need to comply starting in 2016 and all Medicare physicians will need to comply starting in 2017. For physicians in group practices of 100 or more a “Value-based Payment Modifier” will apply.