SB 1726 Summary

• Creates a new Department of Labor headed by a Secretary of Labor appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, with headquarters in Tallahassee and authority to establish regional offices statewide.

• Transfers enforcement of Florida's minimum wage law (Article X, Section 24 of the State Constitution) from the Department of Economic Opportunity to the new Department of Labor, designating it as the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.

• Expands employee protections by establishing a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if an employer takes adverse action within 90 days of an employee exercising wage-related rights, and shifts the burden to employers to prove workers are independent contractors rather than employees.

• Grants the Department of Labor broad investigative and enforcement powers including workplace inspections, subpoena authority, ability to issue citations with mandatory compliance, and tools to collect judgments through liens, levies, and stop-orders prohibiting business operations.

• Allows employees to file complaints directly with the Department of Labor or pursue civil actions for minimum wage violations without the current 15-day pre-notice requirement, with remedies including back wages, interest, liquidated damages up to two times unpaid wages, and attorney fees.