Essential Employee Handbook Considerations for Florida Employers in 2025

Quick Hits

• Florida employers are facing a complex landscape of evolving workplace policies and legal requirements in 2025, including updates in discrimination prevention, leave laws, and medical marijuana protections.
• Employers may want to regularly review and update their workplace policies to ensure compliance with changing laws, particularly in areas like discrimination, harassment, leave policies, and wage disputes.
• Key updates for Florida employee handbooks in 2025 include removing references to outdated presidential executive orders, implementing reasonable suspicion drug testing, and ensuring compliance with new paid sick leave and family leave laws.

Employers may want to regularly review and update their workplace policies and procedures to ensure compliance with evolving laws. This can be particularly important in litigation involving discrimination and harassment, leave policies, wage and hour disputes, and at-will employment. This article highlights key employee handbook updates Florida employers might want to consider in 2025.

Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Prevention

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). As one of his first acts in office, President Donald Trump issued six executive orders (EO) impacting federal contractors, subcontractors, and grant recipients. One of these revoked EO 11246 (requiring affirmative action in employment for minorities and females, issued in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson) and established new certification requirements for “unlawful DEI.” Impacted Florida employers may want to remove handbook references to EO 11246 and carefully review DEI and EEO policies to ensure compliance while also being mindful of state and local laws. For instance, multiple Florida counties have ordinances protecting sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Employer Work Rules and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On February 14, 2025, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen rescinded a series of memoranda issued by his predecessor, including those regarding electronic monitoring of employees, restrictive covenants, and others. The move effectively reshapes federal labor law and signals a new policy direction for the NLRB under the Trump administration. More changes are likely to follow, including potentially relaxing prior scrutiny of other employer work rules.

Medical Marijuana Protections. In a recent lawsuit, Giambrone v. Hillsborough County, a Florida state court granted summary judgment in favor of a former public employee who had been placed on unpaid administrative leave after testing positive for alleged off-duty use of medical marijuana. In light of this decision, Florida employers may want to consider implementing reasonable suspicion drug testing and adding an interactive disability accommodation process to existing drug testing policies for job applicants or employees who are medical marijuana cardholders. However, Florida employers still do not need to allow their employees to show up to work under the influence of medical marijuana or possess marijuana on company property. Public employers in Florida may also want to monitor pending House Bill 83 / Senate Bill 142, which, if passed, would provide specific job protections for medical marijuana cardholders.

Mandatory Leave

Paid Sick Leave (PSL). PSL laws are continually evolving, with eighteen states and Washington, D.C., having PSL requirements. In 2025, Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska were added to this list. In recent years, states like California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Washington have increased required hours and expanded reasons for taking leave. Florida employers may want to be mindful that existing paid time off policies may not be compliant in other states and localities. A handbook addendum or separate state policy may be required, including for remote workers. Understanding which laws apply is critical for compliance.

Family and Medical Leave (FML). Ten states and Washington, D.C., have mandatory paid FML programs, with additional states like Delaware, Maine, and Minnesota scheduled to implement programs soon, and Maryland, where elements of the program may be delayed until 2027. While Florida does not have mandatory FML leave at the state level, employers doing business in Miami-Dade County should note a local ordinance may expand what the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) typically allows when caring for a grandparent with a serious health condition. As of 2023, Florida’s insurance code includes voluntary paid family leave as a new form of insurance.

Jury Duty. Florida law provides general protections for employees when they serve on jury duty or as witnesses in legal proceedings. Local ordinances in Broward and Miami-Dade counties require jury duty pay for certain employees.

Wage and Hour Policies

Timekeeping and Pay. Wage and hour litigation continues to be one of the most frequently filed types of employment litigation in Florida and is one of the most common class or collective actions filed across the country. Employers may want to consider adopting policies requiring employees to thoroughly review their time and pay records to ensure accuracy. Many employee handbooks do not provide specific contact information for employees to report concerns regarding their hours and pay, leaving employers vulnerable to the argument that employees did not have an avenue to resolve complaints. Employers may also want to include a provision prohibiting retaliation against employees who come forward with complaints about their hours or pay.

Child Labor Laws. Recent changes to Florida’s child labor laws enacted in 2024 may impact policy provisions for employers with minors in the workplace. Restrictions on the amount of work hours and days of work have been eased for minors sixteen and seventeen years old. An updated poster is also available.

Legal Disclaimers and Keeping Contracts Separate

At-Will Disclaimers. Employers may want to consider including a disclaimer at the beginning of their handbooks expressly stating that the handbook does not constitute a contract, that the employer can change policies without prior notice, and reiterating the at-will nature of the employment relationship. Moreover, contracts and other legally binding instruments—including noncompete, nonsolicitation, and nondisclosure agreements, along with arbitration agreements and releases of liability—should be kept separate from the handbook. This helps employers enforce these obligations post-employment and may protect the entire handbook from being construed as a contract. To avoid conflicts with official plan documents, it may be best to communicate employee benefits details separately from the handbook.

Introductory Periods. Implementing an initial introductory period of up to ninety calendar days can be beneficial to Florida employers when defending unemployment claims. Dismissing an employee for unsatisfactory performance during this period may avoid unemployment benefits being charged against the employer’s reemployment assistance account in accordance with section 443.131, Florida Statutes. Employers must give notice of the introductory period within the employee’s first seven days of work, which can be accomplished through a handbook acknowledgment.

Employee Acknowledgments. Employers may want to make it a standard practice to obtain signed acknowledgments from all employees when they receive the handbook and whenever significant updates are made. Consider including directions for how employees can access or obtain copies of the handbook. This can be critical in legal disputes where an employee claims he or she was unaware of certain policies or procedures.

Language Barriers. If a significant portion of the workforce is not proficient in English, translating the acknowledgement and handbook into the primary languages spoken by employees may be beneficial. This ensures that all employees can understand the content, particularly with the prevalence of native Spanish speakers in Florida.

Ogletree Deakins’ Miami and Tampa offices will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Drug Testing, Employment Law, Florida, Government Contracting and Reporting, Government Contractors, Leaves of Absence, Multistate Compliance, and Wage and Hour blogs as additional information becomes available.

A version of this article was previously published in the weekly newsletter of ACC Tampa Bay.

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