Bill Text: FL S0926 | 2014 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Wage Theft

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-02 - Died on Calendar [S0926 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S0926-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2014                       CS for CS for SB 926
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Rules; and Judiciary; and Senator Simpson
       
       
       
       
       
       595-03710-14                                           2014926c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to wage theft; amending s. 34.01,
    3         F.S.; expanding the original jurisdiction of county
    4         courts; creating s. 448.115, F.S.; defining the term
    5         “wage theft”; describing the occurrence of a wage
    6         theft; authorizing an aggrieved employee to initiate a
    7         civil action for wage theft; granting county courts
    8         original and exclusive jurisdiction over actions
    9         involving wage theft; specifying requirements to bring
   10         a civil action for wage theft; authorizing a county,
   11         municipality, or political subdivision to establish an
   12         administrative process to assist in the collection of
   13         compensation owed to an employee; preempting
   14         regulation of wage theft to the state after a
   15         specified date; exempting certain counties,
   16         municipalities, and political subdivisions; providing
   17         an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 34.01, Florida
   22  Statutes, is amended to read:
   23         34.01 Jurisdiction of county court.—
   24         (1) County courts shall have original jurisdiction:
   25         (a) In all misdemeanor cases not cognizable by the circuit
   26  courts;
   27         (b) Of all violations of municipal and county ordinances;
   28         (c) Of all actions at law in which the matter in
   29  controversy does not exceed the sum of $15,000, exclusive of
   30  interest, costs, and attorney’s fees, except those within the
   31  exclusive jurisdiction of the circuit courts; and
   32         (d) Of disputes occurring in the homeowners’ associations
   33  as described in s. 720.311(2)(a), which shall be concurrent with
   34  jurisdiction of the circuit courts; and.
   35         (e) Of all actions for the collection of compensation under
   36  s. 448.115, notwithstanding the amount in controversy prescribed
   37  in paragraph (c).
   38         Section 2. Section 448.115, Florida Statutes, is created to
   39  read:
   40         448.115 Civil action for wage theft; notice; civil penalty;
   41  preemption.—
   42         (1)(a) As used in this section, the term “wage theft” means
   43  an illegal or improper underpayment or nonpayment of an
   44  individual employee’s wage, salary, commission, or other similar
   45  form of compensation within a reasonable time from the date on
   46  which the employee performed the work to be compensated.
   47         (b) A wage theft occurs when an employer fails to pay a
   48  portion of wages, salary, commissions, or other similar form of
   49  compensation due to an employee within a reasonable time from
   50  the date on which the employee performed the work, according to
   51  the already applicable rate and the pay schedule of the employer
   52  established by policy or practice. In the absence of an
   53  established pay schedule, a reasonable time from the date on
   54  which the employee performed the work is 2 weeks.
   55         (2)(a) If an employer commits wage theft, an aggrieved
   56  employee may initiate a civil action pursuant to this section.
   57         (b) County courts have original and exclusive jurisdiction
   58  in all actions involving wage theft, as provided in s.
   59  34.01(1)(e). Notwithstanding s. 34.041, the filing fee for a
   60  claim brought pursuant to this section may not exceed $50.
   61         (c) The action shall:
   62         1. Be brought in the county court in the county where the
   63  employee performed the work; and
   64         2. Be governed by the Florida Small Claims Rules.
   65         (3)(a) Before bringing an action, the claimant must notify,
   66  orally or in writing, the employer who is alleged to have
   67  engaged in wage theft of his or her intent to initiate a civil
   68  action.
   69         (b) The notice must identify the amount that the claimant
   70  alleges is owed, the actual or estimated work dates and hours
   71  for which compensation is sought, and the total amount of
   72  compensation unpaid through the date of the notice.
   73         (c) The employer has 7 days after the date of service of
   74  the notice to pay the total amount of unpaid compensation or
   75  otherwise resolve the action to the satisfaction of the
   76  claimant.
   77         (4) The action must be filed within 1 year after the last
   78  date that the alleged unpaid work was performed by the employee.
   79         (5) The claimant must prove wage theft by a preponderance
   80  of the evidence. A prevailing claimant is entitled to damages
   81  limited to twice the amount of compensation due and owing. The
   82  court may only award economic damages expressly authorized in
   83  this subsection and may not award noneconomic or punitive
   84  damages or attorney fees to a prevailing party, notwithstanding
   85  s. 448.08.
   86         (6)(a) A county, municipality, or political subdivision may
   87  establish an administrative, nonjudicial process under which an
   88  assertion of unpaid compensation may be submitted by, or on
   89  behalf of, an employee in order to assist in the collection of
   90  compensation owed to the employee. At a minimum, any such
   91  process shall afford the parties involved an opportunity to
   92  negotiate a resolution regarding the compensation in question.
   93  The county, municipality, or political subdivision may, as part
   94  of the process, assist the employee in completing an application
   95  for a determination of civil indigent status under s. 57.082 and
   96  may pay the filing fee under s. 34.041 on behalf of the
   97  employee, if applicable. The process may not adjudicate a
   98  compensation dispute between an employee and an employer nor
   99  award damages to the employee.
  100         (b) Any local regulation of wage theft enacted on or after
  101  January 1, 2014, by a county, municipality, or other political
  102  subdivision that exceeds the provisions of this section is
  103  preempted to the state. A county, municipality, or other
  104  political subdivision that has enacted a local ordinance or
  105  resolution regulating wage theft before January 1, 2014, may
  106  amend, revise, or repeal the ordinance or resolution on or after
  107  January 1, 2014.
  108         (c) Any other regulation, ordinance, or provision for the
  109  recovery of unpaid compensation by a county, municipality, or
  110  political subdivision is expressly prohibited and is preempted
  111  to the state.
  112         (7) This section does not preclude a person who commits
  113  wage theft from being prosecuted for theft under s. 812.014.
  114         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.