According to the FLSA, salaried employees in Florida must get their full payment regardless of the hours and days they work. However, if a salaried employee does not appear for work for a whole week, the employer is not mandated to pay anything for that week.

Also, note that an employer is not allowed to reduce the employee’s pay if work is reduced or unavailable as long as the employee was available and willing to work. While hourly employees get paid by the number of hours they work, salaried employees in Florida are paid an agreed weekly, bi-weekly or monthly wage.

Note that an employer is not allowed to reduce pay for half-day absences. It simply means that if a salaried employee takes a half-day off, they still get the full payment for that day. However, note that the employer reserves the right to make certain deductions to the pay in situations such as unpaid disciplinary suspensions, overuse of benefit days, and personal leaves.

If an employee steadily commits offenses that warrant permissible deductions, they can lose their exempt status. In the State of Florida, there are strict guidelines that employers are expected to follow when they are paying their employees. If companies violate these laws, workers reserve the right to seek legal redress to hold them accountable.

Labor Laws for Salaried Employees in Florida

From minimum wage to overtime, there are well-stipulated guidelines that employers must adhere to when they are paying their salaried employees. These include;

  1. Minimum Wage Laws

In the United States, minimum wage laws are known to stipulate the standard base pay for salaried employees across industries. Minimum wage laws are binding on all employers, but if a state, such as Florida, has instituted its own legislation and it is higher than the federal rate, employers will have to pay that higher rate.

  1. Overtime Laws

While the FLSA remains the federal law that protects workers in the state when it comes to overtime, have it in mind there are no rules in Florida labor laws that cover this aspect of employee rights, including salaried, hourly, and part-time workers.

Note that a wide range of workers is considered exempt under the FLSA, including many salaried workers, such as those in management positions. If you are salaried and not in any of these positions, you may be considered non-exempt and therefore qualify for overtime.

  1. Severance Pay

In the State of Florida, there is no law mandating companies to pay severance for workers laid off due to no fault of their own. Nonetheless, a good number of companies do, such as when there are branch closings or large-scale reductions in the workforce across a national company with more than one location.

Note that severance pay depends on the time and how long the employee has been with the company before the layoff. While there is no stipulated standard for severance pay, common payouts tend to include:

  • Less than 1 year = between 2 to 4 weeks of pay
  • Less than 2 years = between 3 to 8 weeks of pay
  • Less than 3 years = between 4 to 12 weeks of pay, etc.

The longer an employee has been with the company, the more they are expected to receive.

  1. Paid Sick Leave

A good number of private-sector employers in the State of Florida are given paid sick leave as an employee benefit but these companies are not mandated to do so. Public sector employees, on the other hand, are expected to receive paid sick leave. A good number of employers are expected to comply with the rules of the FMLA (50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius and government institutions).

Conclusion

In the State of Florida, employee rights are expected to be honored, and they deserve fair pay. Florida labor laws are in place to guarantee that employees get paid what they are legally owed. If an employer has not paid the necessary Florida minimum wage or maybe committed other potential Florida labor law violations, reach out to a Florida Employment and Labor Law Attorney to get a better opinion.