Labor and Employment Law (general certification content)
What this domain tests
The Florida Labor & Employment Specialist exam asks you to apply federal employment statutes alongside Florida-specific law to hiring, discipline, leave, safety, and separation scenarios. Florida has no comprehensive state FMLA, no private-sector mini-WARN Act, and no state OSHA plan for private employers, so federal law often supplies the baseline. Florida adds its own civil rights statute, workers' compensation system, whistleblower act, constitutional right-to-work and minimum-wage provisions, and E-Verify mandate. Questions often turn on coverage thresholds, protected classes, filing deadlines, and exclusive remedies.
Core Florida rules
- Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA), Ch. 760, Fla. Stat. Bars employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status. Covers employers with 15 or more employees. An administrative complaint must be filed with the Florida Commission on Human Relations (FCHR) within 365 days.
- Workers' compensation, Ch. 440. Provides the exclusive remedy for most work-related injuries; employers generally need coverage at four or more employees, with special counting rules in construction and agriculture. Retaliation for filing a claim is prohibited.
- Right-to-work, Fla. Const. art. I, § 6. No person may be denied employment because of union membership or nonmembership.
- Minimum wage, Fla. Const. art. X, § 24. Sets an indexed state wage floor with a tip credit; local living-wage ordinances are preempted.
- Whistleblower Act, §§ 448.101–.105. Protects private-sector employees of employers with 10 or more employees who disclose violations of law, health or safety dangers, or report under oath; notice and cure steps apply.
- E-Verify. Private employers with 25 or more employees must verify new hires' employment eligibility.
Worked example
An employee files an FCRA complaint 320 days after termination, alleging age and marital-status discrimination. The employer has 20 employees. The FCRA claim is timely because the FCHR deadline is 365 days; both age and marital status are FCRA protected classes; and the 15-employee threshold is met. If the same facts were brought only under Title VII, the marital-status claim would fail because Title VII does not list marital status. The age claim would require the ADEA, which covers employers with 20 or more employees and only workers age 40 and older.
Traps that cost marks
- Applying Title VII's 180/300-day deadline to an FCRA claim.
- Assuming Florida has a state FMLA, mini-WARN, or private-sector OSHA plan.
- Treating workers' compensation as mandatory for every employer regardless of size.
- Confusing right-to-work with at-will employment or a ban on all union security arrangements.
- Forgetting that FCRA handicap and marital status reach beyond ADA and Title VII categories.