| Fair Employment Practices | Employers with 15 or more employees must comply with the Florida Civil Rights Act. The legislation forbids discrimination in the workplace based on protected traits such as race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, handicap, age, and marital status.
Additionally, Florida forbids discrimination against anyone who possesses the sickle-cell trait, has HIV or AIDS, or is thought to have these conditions. |
| Equal Pay | Florida forbids pay disparity based on gender for tasks that demand equivalent ability, effort, and responsibility and are carried out in comparable working environments. If an employer has two or more employees but is not covered by the federal Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA), the legislation applies to that employer. |
| Whistleblower Protections | As long as the employee first brought the activity, policy, or practice to the attention of a supervisor and gave the employer a reasonable opportunity to correct it, provided information or testimony in connection with any investigation, or threatened to do so, Florida employers may not take adverse employment action against an employee because they have disclosed, or threatened to inform, to any government agency activity of the employer that violates a law, rule, or regulation. |
| Consumer Reports | The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Florida's consumer credit reporting laws are comparable. Each limits an employer's ability to use investigative employee consumer reports or employee credit reports without the applicant's express written agreement. |
| Drug Testing | Florida businesses are permitted to test job candidates for drugs and alcohol before hiring them, but they are not required to. An employer should provide all applicants with a written policy outlining its drug usage policy in general before conducting any tests. |
| Minimum Wage | Under the Florida Minimum Wage Act, employers must pay nonexempt workers a minimum wage of $11.00 per hour. Through 2026, annual statutory increases are planned. The minimum wage will rise in line with inflation beginning on January 1, 2028, and each subsequent January 1 after that. |
| Child Labor | Florida's child labor laws include limitations on the types of jobs children can hold and the hours and days they can work.
Work in hazardous occupations is not permitted for juveniles under 17 or those under 15 as specified by law. Distributing newspapers is prohibited for minors under the age of ten. |
| Payment of Wages | Employees may be paid by cash, cheque, draught, note, memo, or other acknowledgment of debt as long as it is negotiable and payable on demand at an established place of business in the state, direct deposit into an account at a financial institution of the employee's choice if the employee has given written consent to this, or payroll debit cards if they are negotiable and payable in cash, on demand, without discount, at an established place of business in the state. |
| Health Continuation Act | For businesses with fewer than 20 workers, the Florida Health Insurance Coverage Continuation Act is applicable. Following Florida law, qualified employees may choose to maintain their insurance coverage for a maximum of 18 months (or 29 in the event of disability) for 115 percent of the appropriate group rate. |
| Leaves of Absence | Florida has several rules governing needed vacation time and employee leaves of absence. Domestic violence leaves, jury duty leave, witness leave, military leave, and Civil Air Patrol leave are all covered by these statutes. |
| Smoke-Free Workplace | Smoking is prohibited in almost all indoor workplaces in Florida under the Clean Indoor Air Act. The limits apply to fully or mostly enclosed interior spaces of workplaces one or more people use. |
| Weapons in the Workplace | According to Florida law, an employer generally may not ask an employee if they are carrying a firearm inside a vehicle on the employer's parking lot, search vehicles for weapons, or forbid any employee from entering the employer's parking lot if the employee's vehicle contains a legal firearm that is out of sight and is being carried for a lawful purpose. |
| Safe Driving Practices | Texting while driving is prohibited in Florida. |
| Final Pay | The employer may pay any earnings or travel expenses owed to the surviving spouse, child(ren) over 18, or parent if an employee passes away before all wages due have been paid. |
