State Law > Florida > Florida Family and Medical Law

Florida Family and Medical Law

 

Florida family and medical leave law is located in the following sections of the Florida Statutes.

  • 110.221 Parental or family medical leave.
  • 110.152. Adoption by state employee of special needs child.
  • 383.015 Breastfeeding. A mother may breastfeed in a public or private location.
  • 741.313 Domestic violence victims leave

Title X - Public Officers, Employees, And Records - Chapter 110

Sec. 110.219 Attendance and leave; general policies.

(1) The workday for each full-time state employee shall be 8 hours or as otherwise justified by the agency head.

(2) Overtime may be required for any employee.

(3) The granting of any leave of absence, with or without pay, shall be in writing and shall be approved by the agency head. An employee who is granted leave of absence with or without pay shall be an employee of the state while on such leave and shall be returned to the same position or a different position in the same class and same work location upon termination of the approved leave of absence. The agency head and the employee may agree in writing to other conditions and terms under which the leave is to be granted.

(4) Each agency shall keep an accurate record of all hours of work performed by each employee, as well as a complete and accurate record of all authorized leave which is approved. The ultimate responsibility for the accuracy and proper maintenance of all attendance and leave records shall be with the agency head.

(5) Rules shall be adopted by the department in cooperation and consultation with the agencies to implement the provisions of this section; however, such rules must be approved by the Administration Commission prior to their adoption. Such rules must provide for, but need not be limited to:

(a) The maximum responsibility and authority resting with each agency head to administer attendance and leave matters in the agency within the parameters of the rules adopted by the department.

(b) Creditable service in which 1 month of service credit is awarded for each calendar month that the employee is on the payroll of a state agency or during which the employee is on authorized leave without pay.

(c) Holidays as provided in s. 110.117.

(d) Overtime provisions.

(e) Annual leave provisions.

(f) Sick leave provisions.

(g) Parental leave provisions.

(h) Family medical leave provisions.

(i) Disability leave provisions.

(j) Compulsory disability leave provisions.

(k) Administrative leave provisions.

(l) Military leave provisions.

(m) Educational leave with pay provisions.

(n) Leave of absence without pay provisions.

(6) The leave benefits provided to Senior Management Service employees shall not exceed those provided to employees in the Selected Exempt Service.

(7) Each December, a permanent career service employee shall be entitled, subject to available funds, to a payout of up to 24 hours of unused annual leave as follows:

(a) A permanent career service employee must have an annual leave balance of no less than 24 hours, after the payout, in order to qualify for this benefit.

(b) No permanent career service employee shall receive a payout of greater than 240 hours over the course of the employee's career with the state, including any leave received at the time of separation.

Sec. 110.221 Parental or family medical leave.

(1) As used in this section, the term "family" means a child, parent, or spouse, and the term "family medical leave" means leave requested by an employee for a serious family illness including an accident, disease, or condition that poses imminent danger of death, requires hospitalization involving an organ transplant, limb amputation, or other procedure of similar severity, or any mental or physical condition that requires constant in-home care. The term "parental leave" means leave for the father or mother of a child who is born to or adopted by that parent.

(2) The state shall not:

(a) Terminate the employment of any employee in the career service because of the pregnancy of the employee or the employee's spouse or the adoption of a child by that employee.

(b) Refuse to grant to a career service employee parental or family medical leave without pay for a period not to exceed 6 months. Such leave shall commence on a date that is determined by the employee in consultation with the attending physician following notification to the employer in writing, and that is approved by the employer.

(c) Deny a career service employee the use of and payment for annual leave credits for parental or family medical leave. Such leave shall commence on a date determined by the employee in consultation with the attending physician following notification to the employer in writing.

(d) Deny a career service employee the use of and payment for accrued sick leave or family sick leave for any reason deemed necessary by a physician or as established by policy.

(e) Require that a career service employee take a mandatory parental or family medical leave.

(3) Upon returning at the end of parental or family medical leave of absence, such employee shall be reinstated to the same job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and with seniority, retirement, fringe benefits, and other service credits accumulated prior to the leave period. If any portion of the parental or family medical leave is paid leave, the employee shall be entitled to accumulate all benefits granted under paid leave status.

Sec. 110.152. Adoption by state employee of special needs child.

(1)

(a) Any employee of the state or of a water management district who adopts a special-needs child, as defined in paragraph (b), is eligible to receive a monetary benefit in the amount of $10,000 per child, $5,000 of which is payable in equal monthly installments over a 2-year period. Any employee of the state or of a water management district who adopts a child, other than a special-needs child as defined in paragraph (b), shall be eligible to receive a monetary benefit in the amount of $5,000 per child, $2,000 of which is payable in equal monthly installments over a 2-year period.

(b) For purposes of this section, a "special-needs child" is a child whose permanent custody has been awarded to the Department of Children and Family Services or to a Florida-licensed child-placing agency and who is not likely to be adopted because he or she is:

1. Eight years of age or older.

2. A person with a developmental disability.

3. A person with a physical or emotional handicap.

4. Of a minority race or of a racially mixed heritage.

5. A member of a sibling group of any age, provided that two or more members of a sibling group remain together for the purposes of adoption.

(2) An employee of the state or of a water management district who adopts a special-needs child must apply to his or her agency head to obtain the monetary benefit provided in subsection (1). Applications must be on forms approved by the department and must include a certified copy of the final order of adoption naming the applicant as the adoptive parent.

(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the right of any state employee who adopts a special-needs child to receive financial aid for adoption expenses pursuant to s. 409.166 or any other statute that provides financial incentives for the adoption of children.

(4) Any employee of the state or of a water management district who has a child placed in the custody of the employee for adoption, and who continues to resides in the same household as the child placed for adoption, shall be granted parental leave for a period not to exceed 6 months as provided in s. 110.221.

Title XXIX - Public Health
Chapter 383 - Maternity And Infancy Hygiene


Sec. 383.015 Breastfeeding.

The breastfeeding of a baby is an important and basic act of nurture which must be encouraged in the interests of maternal and child health and family values, and in furtherance of this goal:

(1) A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother's breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breastfeeding.

(2) A facility lawfully providing maternity services or newborn infant care may use the designation "baby-friendly" if it establishes a breastfeeding policy in accordance with s. 383.016.

Sec. 383.016 Breastfeeding policy for "baby-friendly" facilities providing maternity services and newborn infant care.

A facility lawfully providing maternity services or newborn infant care may use the designation "baby-friendly" on its promotional materials if the facility has complied with at least 80 percent of the requirements developed by the Department of Health in accordance with UNICEF and World Health Organization baby-friendly hospital initiatives.

741.313. Domestic violence victims leave.

(1) As used in this section, the term:

(a) "Domestic violence" means domestic violence, as defined in s. 741.28, or any crime the underlying factual basis of which has been found by a court to include an act of domestic violence.

(b) "Employee" has the same meaning as in s. 440.02(15).

(c) "Employer" has the same meaning as in s. 440.02(16).

(d) "Family or household member" has the same meaning as in s. 741.28.

(e) "Victim" means an individual who has been subjected to domestic violence.

(2)

(a) An employer shall permit an employee to request and take up to 3 working days of leave from work in any 12-month period if the employee or a family or household member of an employee is the victim of domestic violence. This leave may be with or without pay, at the discretion of the employer.

(b) This section applies if an employee uses the leave from work to:

1. Seek an injunction for protection against domestic violence or an injunction for protection in cases of repeat violence, dating violence, or sexual violence;

2. Obtain medical care or mental health counseling, or both, for the employee or a family or household member to address physical or psychological injuries resulting from the act of domestic violence;

3. Obtain services from a victim-services organization, including, but not limited to, a domestic violence shelter or program or a rape crisis center as a result of the act of domestic violence;

4. Make the employee's home secure from the perpetrator of the domestic violence or to seek new housing to escape the perpetrator; or

5. Seek legal assistance in addressing issues arising from the act of domestic violence or to attend and prepare for court-related proceedings arising from the act of domestic violence.

(3) This section applies to an employer who employs 50 or more employees and to an employee who has been employed by the employer for 3 or more months.

(4)

(a) Except in cases of imminent danger to the health or safety of the employee, or to the health or safety of a family or household member, an employee seeking leave from work under this section must provide to his or her employer appropriate advance notice of the leave as required by the employer's policy along with sufficient documentation of the act of domestic violence as required by the employer.

(b) An employee seeking leave under this section must, before receiving the leave, exhaust all annual or vacation leave, personal leave, and sick leave, if applicable, which is available to the employee, unless the employer waives this requirement.

(c)

1. A private employer must keep all information relating to the employee's leave under this section confidential.

2. An agency, as defined in s. 119.011, must keep information relating to the employee's leave under this section confidential and exempt from disclosure to the extent authorized by subsection (7).

(5)

(a) An employer may not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or any attempt by an employee to exercise any right provided under this section.

(b) An employer may not discharge, demote, suspend, retaliate, or in any other manner discriminate against an employee for exercising his or her rights under this section.

(c) An employee has no greater rights to continued employment or to other benefits and conditions of employment than if the employee was not entitled to leave under this section. This section does not limit the employer's right to discipline or terminate any employee for any reason, including, but not limited to, reductions in work force or termination for cause or for no reason at all, other than exercising his or her rights under this section.

(6) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the sole remedy for any person claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this section is to bring a civil suit for damages or equitable relief, or both, in circuit court. The person may claim as damages all wages and benefits that would have been due the person up to and including the date of the judgment had the act violating this section not occurred, but the person may not claim wages or benefits for a period of leave granted without pay as provided in paragraph (2)(a). However, this section does not relieve the person from the obligation to mitigate his or her damages.


(7)
(a) Personal identifying information that is contained in records documenting an act of domestic violence and that is submitted to an agency, as defined in chapter 119, by an agency employee under the requirements of this section is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
(b) A written request for leave which is submitted by an agency employee under the requirements of this section and any agency time sheet that reflects such a request are confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution until 1 year after the leave has been taken.
(c) This subsection is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2012, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
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