F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 1467 2021
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to employment benefits and
3 accommodations for crime victims and witnesses;
4 amending s. 443.101, F.S.; revising factors for
5 exemptions from disqualification for employment
6 assistance benefits; providing documentation
7 requirements for such factors; providing definitions;
8 amending s. 443.131, F.S.; providing that reemployment
9 assistance benefits paid to employees as a result of
10 the additional factors may not be charged to the
11 employer's employment record; creating s. 448.046,
12 F.S.; providing definitions; requiring employers to
13 authorize employees to request and take up to a
14 specified number of days of leave from work under
15 certain circumstances; providing requirements and
16 purposes for such leave; providing applicability;
17 providing requirements for documentation for leave
18 requests; requiring employees to exhaust other leave
19 options before taking specified leave; authorizing
20 employers to require employees to take leave
21 concurrently; providing confidentiality requirements;
22 requiring employers to provide reasonable work
23 accommodations under certain circumstances; requiring
24 employees to disclose specified information and
25 provide specified documentation to request work
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26 accommodations; requiring employees to notify
27 employers when accommodations are no longer needed;
28 providing construction; requiring employers to
29 maintain the confidentiality of specified information;
30 prohibiting employers from engaging in specified
31 actions under certain circumstances; providing
32 remedies for violations of specified provisions;
33 authorizing employees to claim as damages all wages
34 and benefits under certain circumstances; providing an
35 exception; amending s. 741.313, F.S.; conforming
36 provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
37 effective date.
38
39 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
40
41 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
42 443.101, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
43 443.101 Disqualification for benefits.—An individual shall
44 be disqualified for benefits:
45 (1)(a) For the week in which he or she has voluntarily
46 left work without good cause attributable to his or her
47 employing unit or for the week in which he or she has been
48 discharged by the employing unit for misconduct connected with
49 his or her work, based on a finding by the Department of
50 Economic Opportunity. As used in this paragraph, the term "work"
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51 means any work, whether full-time, part-time, or temporary.
52 1. Disqualification for voluntarily quitting continues for
53 the full period of unemployment next ensuing after the
54 individual has left his or her full-time, part-time, or
55 temporary work voluntarily without good cause and until the
56 individual has earned income equal to or greater than 17 times
57 his or her weekly benefit amount. As used in this subsection,
58 the term "good cause" includes only that cause attributable to
59 the employing unit which would compel a reasonable employee to
60 cease working or attributable to the individual's illness or
61 disability requiring separation from his or her work. Any other
62 disqualification may not be imposed.
63 2. An individual is not disqualified under this subsection
64 for:
65 a. Voluntarily leaving temporary work to return
66 immediately when called to work by the permanent employing unit
67 that temporarily terminated his or her work within the previous
68 6 calendar months;
69 b. Voluntarily leaving work to relocate as a result of his
70 or her military-connected spouse's permanent change of station
71 orders, activation orders, or unit deployment orders; or
72 c. Voluntarily leaving work if he or she proves that his
73 or her discontinued employment is a direct result of
74 circumstances related to stalking as described in s. 784.048(2)-
75 (5) and (7), sexual violence as defined in s. 741.313(1), or
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76 domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28. An individual who
77 voluntarily leaves work under this sub-subparagraph must:
78 (I) Make reasonable efforts to preserve employment, unless
79 the individual establishes that such remedies are likely to be
80 futile or to increase the risk of future incidents of stalking,
81 sexual violence, or domestic violence. Such efforts may include
82 seeking a protective injunction, relocating to a secure place,
83 or seeking reasonable accommodation from the employing unit,
84 such as a transfer or change of assignment;
85 (II) Provide evidence such as an injunction, a protective
86 order, medical records, mental health records, a law enforcement
87 report, or other documentation authorized by state law which
88 reasonably proves that domestic violence has occurred; and
89 (III) Reasonably believe that he or she is likely to be
90 the victim of a future act of stalking, sexual violence, or
91 domestic violence at, in transit to, or departing from his or
92 her place of employment. An individual who is otherwise eligible
93 for benefits under this sub-subparagraph is ineligible for each
94 week that he or she no longer meets such criteria or refuses a
95 reasonable accommodation offered in good faith by his or her
96 employing unit.
97 d.(I) If sub-subparagraph c. does not otherwise already
98 apply, voluntarily leaving work if:
99 (A) He or she is a witness to a crime, his or her
100 immediate family member is a witness to a crime, or his or her
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101 immediate family member was a homicide victim; and
102 (B) His or her discontinued employment is a direct result
103 of circumstances related to the crime.
104 (II) An individual who voluntarily leaves work under this
105 sub-subparagraph must:
106 (A) Make reasonable efforts to preserve employment, unless
107 the individual establishes that such remedies are likely to be
108 futile or to increase the risk of future victimization. Such
109 efforts may include seeking a protective injunction, relocating
110 to a secure place, or seeking reasonable accommodation from the
111 employing unit, such as a transfer or change of assignment;
112 (B) Provide evidence such as an injunction, a protective
113 order, medical records, mental health records, a law enforcement
114 report, or other documentation authorized by state law which
115 reasonably verifies that a crime has occurred; and
116 (C) Reasonably believe that he or she is likely to be the
117 victim of a future crime at, in transit to, or departing from
118 his or her place of employment. An individual who is otherwise
119 eligible for benefits under this sub-subparagraph is ineligible
120 for each week that he or she no longer meets such criteria or
121 refuses a reasonable accommodation offered in good faith by his
122 or her employing unit.
123 3. The employment record of an employing unit may not be
124 charged for the payment of benefits to an individual who has
125 voluntarily left work under sub-subparagraph 2.c. or sub-
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126 subparagraph 2.d.
127 4. Disqualification for being discharged for misconduct
128 connected with his or her work continues for the full period of
129 unemployment next ensuing after having been discharged and until
130 the individual is reemployed and has earned income of at least
131 17 times his or her weekly benefit amount and for not more than
132 52 weeks immediately following that week, as determined by the
133 department in each case according to the circumstances or the
134 seriousness of the misconduct, under the department's rules for
135 determining disqualification for benefits for misconduct.
136 5. If an individual has provided notification to the
137 employing unit of his or her intent to voluntarily leave work
138 and the employing unit discharges the individual for reasons
139 other than misconduct before the date the voluntary quit was to
140 take effect, the individual, if otherwise entitled, shall
141 receive benefits from the date of the employer's discharge until
142 the effective date of his or her voluntary quit.
143 6. If an individual is notified by the employing unit of
144 the employer's intent to discharge the individual for reasons
145 other than misconduct and the individual quits without good
146 cause before the date the discharge was to take effect, the
147 claimant is ineligible for benefits pursuant to s. 443.091(1)(d)
148 for failing to be available for work for the week or weeks of
149 unemployment occurring before the effective date of the
150 discharge.
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151 7. As used in this paragraph, the term:
152 a. "Crime" means any of the following:
153 (I) Sexual violence as defined in s. 741.313(1).
154 (II) Domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28.
155 (III) Stalking as described in s. 784.048(2), (3), (4),
156 (5), or (7).
157 (IV) A crime that causes physical injury, psychological
158 injury with the threat of physical injury, or death to the
159 victim.
160 b. "Immediate family member" means any of the following:
161 (I) A parent, child, or sibling of an individual, whether
162 by blood, adoption, or marriage and regardless of the age of the
163 family member or individual.
164 (II) A legal guardian of an individual, a person who
165 stands in loco parentis to an individual, or a person who was a
166 legal guardian to an individual or who stood in loco parentis to
167 an individual when the individual was a minor.
168 (III) A person to whom an individual is a legal guardian,
169 to whom an individual stands in loco parentis, or to whom an
170 individual was a legal guardian or stood in loco parentis when
171 the person was a minor.
172 (IV) A spouse, fiancé, or fiancée of an individual.
173 (V) A person who lives in the same dwelling unit as an
174 individual and who has a relationship of a romantic or intimate
175 nature with the individual.
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176 (VI) A person who lives in the same dwelling unit as an
177 individual and who is related to the individual by blood,
178 adoption, or marriage, or a person who has at any time lived in
179 the same dwelling unit as an individual and whose close
180 association with the individual is similar to that of a parent,
181 child, sibling, or spouse.
182 c. "Witness" means a person, including, but not limited
183 to, the victim, who witnessed any part of the commission of a
184 crime and who was neither the perpetrator nor an accomplice.
185 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
186 443.131, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
187 443.131 Contributions.—
188 (3) VARIATION OF CONTRIBUTION RATES BASED ON BENEFIT
189 EXPERIENCE.—
190 (a) Employment records.—The regular and short-time
191 compensation benefits paid to an eligible individual shall be
192 charged to the employment record of each employer who paid the
193 individual wages of at least $100 during the individual's base
194 period in proportion to the total wages paid by all employers
195 who paid the individual wages during the individual's base
196 period. Benefits may not be charged to the employment record of
197 an employer who furnishes part-time work to an individual who,
198 because of loss of employment with one or more other employers,
199 is eligible for partial benefits while being furnished part-time
200 work by the employer on substantially the same basis and in
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201 substantially the same amount as the individual's employment
202 during his or her base period, regardless of whether this part-
203 time work is simultaneous or successive to the individual's lost
204 employment. Further, as provided in s. 443.151(3), benefits may
205 not be charged to the employment record of an employer who
206 furnishes the Department of Economic Opportunity with notice, as
207 prescribed in rules of the department, that any of the following
208 apply:
209 1. If an individual leaves his or her work without good
210 cause attributable to the employer or is discharged by the
211 employer for misconduct connected with his or her work, benefits
212 subsequently pa