Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Florida

Employer

Employer Payroll Contributions

Employee

Employee Payroll Contributions

Employee

Federal Employee Income Tax

General

The minimum wage in Florida is 11.00 USD per hour. With effective from Sept. 30, 2023, the minimum wage increases to 12.00 USD , with regular one dollar increases through to 2026. The schedule is as follows:

• 2024 – 13.00 USD
• 2025 – 14.00 USD
• 2026 – 15.00 USD

The Florida minimum wage will continue at 15.00 USD until December 31, 2027. Thereafter with effect from 2028, the minimum wage will move to indexed increases based on the applicable Consumer Price Index.

Payroll Cycle

Employees are paid monthly or semi-monthly.

13th Salary

There are no provisions in the law regarding 13th salaries.

General

In Florida, the workweek is a maximum of 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day.

Employers in Florida are required to provide break periods of at least 30 minutes for minors aged between 14 to 17 who work five or more consecutive hours and continue to work. Employers are not required to give breaks to employees 18 and over. Breaks longer than twenty minutes are unpaid, while breaks shorter than twenty minutes are paid.  This does not apply to meal or lunch breaks.

Overtime

An employer can require an employee to work overtime with the exception of certain minors. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stipulates that if an employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek, the employer must pay 150% 0f the regular salary rate as overtime.

If an employee is scheduled to work on weekends or on a rest day, no additional payment is required. However, should an employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, then overtime is paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay.

If an employer has fewer than three employees, the employer can pay the overtime rate at the regular pay rate.

Working Week

Monday-Friday

Paid Time Off

Florida does not have any state laws that govern paid time off, however, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.  This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the collective bargaining agreements.

Public Holidays

There are 12 public holidays in Florida. Public holidays are not mandatory as paid days off, however, it is very common to allow workers to take federal holidays as paid days off.

Sick Days

It is common for an employer to follow the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) which provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for certain family and medical reasons (maternity leave, serious illnesses, or if the employee needs to care for a spouse or child).

Employees are eligible for FMLA if they have worked for their employer for at least one year, completed a minimum of 1,250 hours over the past year, and worked at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

FMLA eligible employees are entitled to:

• 12 working weeks of leave in any one year for a child’s birth and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth.
• Leave for the adoption or foster care of a child and care for the newly placed child within one year of placement.
• Care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a severe health condition.
• Leave in the event of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job.
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”

Or

• 26 working weeks of leave during a single one-year period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).

In addition to the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Florida has additional maternity and paternity leave regulations.

Maternity Leave

Maternity Leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).
In addition to the FMLA and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Florida has additional maternity and paternity Leave regulations detailed in the Florida Family & Medical Leave Act.  This Act is currently being reviewed with new bills being expected to be passed in summer 2022.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave) and state laws on maternity and paternity leave (see Maternity Leave).

Parental Leave

Parental leave falls under the FMLA (see Sick Leave).

Other Leave

• Jury Duty: Florida law requires all employers (with 5 or more employees) to provide their full-time employees with job-protected, paid time off from work to perform jury duty. Employees must provide a copy of the jury summons to the employer as evidence of requirement.
• Florida law has no requirement to allow employees time off to register a vote. However, it does prohibit an employer from terminating or threatening to terminate an employee for voting or not voting in an election, for a particular candidate, or for a specific ballot measure.
• In addition to the federal law USERRA, Florida law provides protection against discrimination for members of U.S. armed forces, reserves, National Guard, commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the president in a time of war or emergency.
• Reemployment in a former or a similar position regarding seniority, status, pay, and other employment benefits can be carried out by an employer. In addition, a new law in Florida stipulates that employees not covered by COBRA whose employment is terminated while on active duty are entitled to a new 18-month benefit period beginning when active duty or job ends, whichever is later.

Termination Process

Except in mass dismissals or as provided for in an employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement, U.S. law does not impose a formal notice period to terminate an individual employment relationship, and employment is stipulated “at will.”

This means that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship without giving either notice or reason, provided it is not illegal, notable discrimination on the grounds of a category protected by law, etc., and as per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).

The employment contracts of executives and other highly skilled individuals often incorporate a “just cause termination” clause which mandates that the employer may only terminate the employee for “cause” and lists the permissible grounds. In such cases, the parties negotiate the foundations for a “just cause” termination.

Notice Period

In Florida, most employees are employed “at-will,” and either party can terminate the employment relationship without notice. In Florida, payout of unused vacation time is not required by law. However, employers will generally pay an employee for unused vacation days, provided the employee gives some advance notice of resignation. While there is no official notice period, general practice is two weeks.

In mass dismissal cases the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) must be followed, and employers must give 60 days’ notice to impacted employees.

Severance Pay

Except as otherwise provided in an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement, employers are not required to pay severance. However, when severance pay is outlined in an employment contract, the amount is generally based on the length of employment.

If the employer terminates the contract, the employer must make the final payment to the employee within three working days of the termination. If the employee terminates the contract, the final payment will be made per the employment contract. This is usually the next regular payday.

Probation Period

There are no provisions in the law regarding probation or trial periods. However, it is common practice for employers to set a performance evaluation after an initially stated period of employment of 90 days.

VISA

Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States. An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security or the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.

If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a visa stamp from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement).  To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition must be part of the visa request.

The types of visas include:

• H-1B: For applicants with a college degree hired to do specialized work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
• H-1B1: For applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
• H-2A:  For temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
• H-2B: For temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
• L: For intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a US branch of the company). The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial level position or higher with specialized knowledge.
• O: For people with extraordinary abilities in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.

The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.

For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:

• E-1: Highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics
• E-2: For those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability
• E-3: For skilled workers and professionals, as well as unskilled workers
• E-4: Members of certain immigrant groups
• E-5: Immigrant investors in US companies (substantial investment)

Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a “green card” if the employee can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive or manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States. The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.

All employers are obligated to verify that all individuals they employ are authorized to work in the United States.

General

Florida has a minimum combined sales tax rate which is 7.08% (state tax is 6.00% and local tax is 1.08%).