Florida Employee Rights

Guide to Florida Employee Rights

If you are a Florida employee, you need to know about your rights in the workplace so that you can understand when they're being violated. There are several types of Florida employee rights spelled out in state law. This guide will teach you about just a few of them. You'll learn about FL employee rights pertaining to how much you make and workplace fairness.

Minimum Wage Laws

While states are allowed to set higher minimum wages than the federal government, Florida employee rights currently entitle employees only to the federal minimum wage of $7.67 an hour. You may receive lower wages for a job where your income is tip-based: servers and bartenders, for instance, can expect a minimum wage of just $4.23 an hour. If your tips are below $3.44 an hour (making your total wages less than the normal minimum wage) FL employee rights dictate that you will receive additional pay to bring you up to the minimum hourly wage.

Employee Personnel Files

If you are a state employee, you have Florida employee rights to view your personnel file. Florida employee rights do not entitle employees to see their personnel files if they work for a private employer. You may be able to see your personnel file if you have a union contract that gives you the right to review or make copies from your file.

Drug Tests for Job Applicants and Employees

FL employee rights recognize that you have the right to privacy and should not be tested for drugs without cause. However, you may be tested for drugs before you are hired, according to Florida employee rights. Once you have already been hired, however, your employer is only allowed to test specific employees if they have a reasonable suspicion the employee may be using drugs. If you are working in a position where safety could be put at risk, FL employee rights allow your employer to drug test you on a random basis.

Wrongful Termination and Discrimination

In some states, you have the right to sue if your employer fired you for a reason not directly related to your job performance. However, Florida employee rights do not extend to most types of “wrongful termination.” Because Florida is a right to work state, FL employee rights for terminated employees are fairly minimal, and you will only have the right to sue if you were terminated due to a discriminatory reason.

Florida employee rights do not allow discriminatory firings—all employment related discrimination and harassment based on sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion is prohibited. If you are discriminated against during the hiring process or during the course of your employment, FL employee rights allow you to contact the state or federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Currently, Florida employee rights do not include rights for lesbian and gay employees not to be harassed or discriminated against. While laws to incorporate these FL employee rights have been proposed in the state legislature, none have passed as of 2012.