Employment Law Observer

Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's preliminary order blocking enforcement of the Individual Freedom Act's provision banning mandatory workplace trainings endorsing certain viewpoints.

Beginning on July 1, 2023, private employers in Florida with more than 25 employees will be required to use the federal E-Verify system for all new hires in order to verify that newly hired employees are legally authorized to work in the U.S. The 25-employee threshold refers to the total number of company employees, not just those employees who work in Florida. Covered Florida employers must enroll in E-Verify using the E-Verify.gov website and follow the registration process. E-Verify requires the employer to transcribe a new hire’s information from his or her I-9 into E-Verify, which will confirm whether the new hire is authorized to work in the U.S. Employers who do not comply with this new law will be subjected to stiff penalties for noncompliance, including costly daily fines and suspension and/or revocation of state licenses. The penalties for noncompliance will take effect July 1, 2024.

On April 22, 2022, Governor DeSantis signed into law the Individual Freedom Act—otherwise known as the "Stop WOKE Act"—which set to amend several statutes relating to education and employee rights. Scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2022, the Stop WOKE Act prohibits employers from mandating employees to attend trainings that endorse certain topics regarding race, color, sex, and/or national origin. We previously wrote a byline which explained in further detail what the Stop WOKE Act specifically prohibits.

At a press conference on October 21, 2021, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called on the Florida legislature to pass a law combating federal vaccine mandates. He also called on the legislature to hold a special legislative session to pass such a law, instead of waiting until the legislature resumes its normal session next year. Governor DeSantis believes legislation is necessary because an executive order against employer vaccine mandates may not be sufficient.

On September 30, 2021, Florida’s hourly minimum wage rate increased from $8.56 to $10.00. For the next five years, the hourly minimum wage in Florida will increase by $1.00 each year until it reaches $15.00 per hour in 2026. This increase came as the result of Amendment 2, passed on November 3, 2020, by an overwhelming majority of Florida voters.

In a workplace safety whistleblower lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, an air conditioning technician claims he was fired by his employer, HT Airsystems of Florida, LLC, in retaliation for complaining about purported overtime violations and for raising concerns about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), which would be a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Florida's Private Whistleblower Act (FWA).

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida held that Florida can enforce a law that voids noncompete agreements between doctors and their employers. The recently adopted legislation—section 542.336, Florida statutes—voids any noncompete agreements between physicians and specialty physician groups when the group employs all the physicians practicing a particular specialty within a given Florida county. In 21st Century Oncology, Inc. v. Moody, the Northern District reasoned that the law doesn't unlawfully interfere with private agreements, and any such impairment is outweighed by the law's significant, legitimate public purposes.

Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal recently decided two questions of first impression under Florida law: (1) whether a one-event sexual advance at a private, non-work sponsored party may support sexual harassment and retaliation claims, and (2) whether rejecting a supervisor’s sexual advance is protected “opposition.” The court answered both questions “yes.”

While advocates across the country continue to demand states increase their minimum wage to $15.00 per hour, Florida decided to forgo large scale reform and increase its minimum wage by only two percent.  Effective January 1, 2018, Florida’s minimum wage will increase by 15 cents from $8.10 to $8.25 per hour.  Florida’s minimum wage for tipped employees will also increase by 15 cents from $5.08 to $5.23 per hour. To put this in perspective, a year earlier, Florida increased its minimum wage by five cents from $8.05 to $8.10 per hour, while tipped employees received an increase from $5.03 to $5.08 per hour.

On January 1st, 2017, the minimum wage in Florida will increase from $8.05 an hour to $8.10 an hour. This represents the fifth-smallest hourly increase since Florida established a state minimum wage in 2005. For tipped employees, the minimum wage will be at least $5.08 an hour.

On April 24, 2015, the Florida Legislature passed a bill banning discrimination against pregnant women at work and in public places. While passing unanimously in the Florida Senate and receiving near-unanimous passage in the Florida House of Representatives, Governor Rick Scott must approve and sign the bill before it becomes Florida law. The law would become effective July 1, 2015. 

The Florida First District Court of Appeals was recently presented with a question concerning the constitutionality of the 104-week limitation on temporary indemnity benefits based on an injured worker who was not yet ready to return to work after the 104 weeks of temporary benefits, but who was not able to prove eventual permanent and total disability benefits, and therefore not entitled to indemnity benefits. 

A Florida Court of Appeal recently determined that pregnancy discrimination is not prohibited by the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA).