Florida Domestic Violence LOA
stilldazed
640 Posts
For any of you working in Florida, do you have any insight into the new LOA legislation for victims of domestic violence. I understand that it was effective 7/1, an ammendment (FS7 41.313) to extend job protection for employees who are or have victims of domestic violence in their households. The protection is for up to 3 days per year. I haven't yet located some sort of guidance on how to administer and am guessing it may be similar to FMLA.
This is one of my rare opportunities to try to be ready ahead of time. Our organization just happens to have had experience with victims in the past, and we also have a lot of healthcare professionals who are bound by licenses to report known cases of abuse. My gut is telling me that I will probably have a chance to administer this one in the not-too-distant future.
tks,
This is one of my rare opportunities to try to be ready ahead of time. Our organization just happens to have had experience with victims in the past, and we also have a lot of healthcare professionals who are bound by licenses to report known cases of abuse. My gut is telling me that I will probably have a chance to administer this one in the not-too-distant future.
tks,
Comments
With very little fanfare, Governor Charlie Crist signed into law “An Act Relating to Domestic Violence” which became effective on July 1, 2007. This law mandates that certain Florida employers must provide leave to certain employees who have been victimized by domestic violence. Let’s take a look at who and what are covered by the new law.
Does this affect you?
It does, if you are a Florida employer with 50 or more employees. Any employee requesting leave is covered if he or she has been employed by you for three or more months.
What are you required to do?
You are required to permit an employee to request and take up to 3 working days of leave from work in a 12-month period if the employee or a family or household member of an employee is the victim of domestic violence. That’s correct- the new law covers not just employees who are victims of domestic violence but also employees who have a family member or someone living in their household who is a victim of domestic violence! This leave may be paid or unpaid, at your discretion.
What can the employee use this leave for?
A number of things, specifically:
1) to seek an injunction for protection against domestic violence, dating violence, or sexual violence;
2) to obtain medical care and/or mental health counseling (for either the employee or family/household member);
3) to obtain services from a victim-services organization;
4) to make the employee’s home secure from the perpetrator or find new housing; or
5) to seek legal assistance for issues concerning the domestic violence situation.
What must the employee do to obtain this leave?
You should add this type of leave to your company’s leave policy. The employee can be required, at your discretion, to exhaust all annual or vacation leave, personal leave, and sick leave available to the employee prior to receiving domestic violence leave. The employee also must provide you with appropriate advance notice of the leave as required by your policy, plus sufficient documentation of the act of domestic violence, unless the employee or family or household member is in imminent danger.
Who can be privy to this information?
Only those people within your organization who need to know should be told of the situation. The new law requires employers to keep all information strictly confidential.
A New Protected Class of Employees in Florida:
If you do not comply with this new law, or if you fire, demote, suspend, retaliate or discriminate against the employee for exercising his or her rights under the new law, you may be sued for damages and equitable relief, such as reinstatement, in state court. The aggrieved employee may seek back wages and benefits that would have been due if the violation had not occurred. This means that a new class of protected employees is created in Florida. (By our count there are now 31 protected classes of employees in Florida!) An employee who qualifies for coverage will be able to claim that they have been fired, demoted, retaliated against, etc., because they or someone in their household was a victim of domestic violence!
What do you need to do right now?
You need to define some terms and refine your employment policies. You need to determine what appropriate advance notice of the need for leave is. You need to determine what kind of documentation or substantiation of the domestic violence you will require. You need to decide if the leave will be paid or unpaid and if the employee must exhaust other leave first. And you need to ensure you have a system in place that will respect the confidential nature of a domestic violence leave request. If you would like a copy of the new law, or if you would like to see our model policy language, send an e-mail to Tom Harper: [email]gth@HarperGerlach.com[/email]
The new law allows employers to fill in a lot of gaps and determine how such a situation will be handled. However, if you wait to address these issues, you may be simply reacting to the situation and set bad precedent. Make these decisions as soon as possible to protect your business.
G Thomas Harper
[url]www.HarperGerlach.com/resources/HRStore[/url].
The personal side agrees with the compassionate intent behind DV protection, but from an administrator standpoint, I have to wonder about the level of labor intensity to administer vs. 3 days. It is really beginning to seem as if some of the protections are going to an extreme.
Thanks, John, for your input. I'm sure I'll be in touch.
Pam Smythe