Florida Democrat refiles bill to create a state labor department

After over 20 years without a state labor department, Florida Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, has refiled legislation for the fourth year in a row to re-establish such an agency in Florida, which — among other things — would be empowered to investigate complaints of wage theft.

Although it’s rarely discussed today by politicians in either major party, Florida lawmakers dissolved the state Department of Labor and Economic Security back in the early 2000s at the behest of then-Gov. Jeb Bush. The explicit goal of the move was to identify workforce programs, divisions and duties that could be “eliminated, consolidated, or privatized.”

Founded in 1978, the functions of the department were gradually weakened from the mid-1990s forward, until it was eventually dissolved in 2002.

Many of the responsibilities of the state agency were handed off to other public or not-for-profit agencies, but for some reason, the duty of ensuring wage theft (the nonpayment or underpayment of earned wages) didn't go unchecked fell through the cracks.

It wasn’t until Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2004, raising Florida’s minimum wage, that a public official — the state Attorney General — was given the power to enforce Florida’s minimum wage and ensure employers pay their Florida employees what they’re lawfully owed.

Problem is, records obtained by Orlando Weekly show that state interference in instances of wage theft is rare. The state Attorney General is empowered to bring a civil action against an employer to enforce the state's wage laws. But there's no evidence Florida's current Attorney General Ashley Moody, or her predecessor Pam Bondi, ever has.

Generally, the federal Department of Labor — which suffers its own challenges from flat-funding — is left to pick up the slack.

In January, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $244,000 in back wages for 49 employees of Orlando Health Medical Group Urology, after the employer failed to pay overtime premiums, allowed workers to work off the clock, and failed to keep accurate records of hours worked. The feds also recovered $144,000 for workers of an Orlando-based hospitality company, and recently, over $120,000 for 24 workers at a Sand Lake Road pizza restaurant.

Nationally, employers steal billions of dollars from workers’ paychecks each year, with lackluster wage and hour enforcement on both a state and federal level. But a 2017 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that Florida in particular has the highest minimum wage violation rate of the 10 most populous states in the nation.

Historically, minimum wage violations have also increased as Florida’s state minimum wage has gone up, which it’s scheduled to do over the next few years under a $15 minimum wage ballot initiative approved by voters in 2020.

The lack of a state labor department leaves Florida workers with few and imperfect options to recover unpaid wages that they’re lawfully owed. Workers can file civil suits against their employers, file a complaint with the state Attorney General's Office and hope it isn't ignored, or file a complaint with the federal labor department.

Some local governments, including Osceola County, have also established local wage recovery programs that state Republican lawmakers (and the business interests who control the purse strings) have, thus far unsuccessfully, sought to undermine through state preemption of local wage theft protection laws.

Rep.  Nixon wants to help level the playing field on a state level. Her bill to reestablish a state department of labor would, in effect, create and empower a state agency to crack down on employers that illegally withhold wages or tips from workers.

Under Nixon's proposal, both the Department of Labor and the Attorney General would have the authority to bring civil actions against employers to enforce Florida's minimum wage. Additionally, individuals would maintain the right to file a civil suit.

Moreover, Nixon also appears to have other aspirations for the department. “This is particularly important, seeing as how my Republican colleagues are attempting to loosen child labor laws here in Florida this upcoming legislative session,” wrote Rep. Nixon on X, in reference to a bill filed by Republican State Rep. Linda Chaney.

The Department of Labor bill would also create a nine-member community advisory board for the revived department. Under Nixon's proposal, the Community Advisory Board would include four members representing labor organizations, a representative from the state DOL, a representative of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and representatives (one each) from the state Department of Education and Department of Economic Opportunity. All positions would be unpaid and subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Department of Labor (a new job created by this legislation).

The advisory board would meet three times per year and submit an annual report to the DOL Secretary “recommending changes to existing state policies and programs to ensure worker safety and equity, with particular emphasis on racial equity and low-wage and migrant workers,” according to the bill as originally filed.

The real question is: Will the bill go anywhere? Or will it suffer the same fate as similar attempts in years past?

This isn’t the first time Nixon has tried to revive Florida’s state labor department. The Jacksonville Democrat filed similar bills for consideration in the Florida House in 2021, 2022 and 2023, while Orlando-area Sen. Victor Torres filed companion bills in the Florida Senate.

All have died unceremoniously, and were paid little attention by state lawmakers, Republican or Democrat.  None of the bills previously filed have even reached a vote.

Public disclosure forms required by the Florida House show that the Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Home Builders Association — which opposed the 2020 ballot initiative to raise Florida's minimum wage — registered multiple lobbyists to track Nixon's idled Department of Labor bill filed during the 2023 legislative session, which ran from early March to May.

Meanwhile, Republican state Rep. Tiffany Esposito filed a bill Monday that could undercut efforts to enhance worker protections. Esposito, a first-term state representative, filed a bill (HB 433) that would prevent cities and counties from passing local laws that strengthen heat safety requirements in workplaces, if approved by state lawmakers in 2024.

This comes less than a week after Miami-Dade County, facing industry pressure, delayed a vote on a local ordinance that would have established stronger heat protections for outdoor workers in the agricultural and construction industries.

Esposito, who serves as president of her regional Chamber of Commerce, appears to be on the side of businesses, not individuals. Earlier this year, Esposito similarly sponsored a new law that prevents local governments from passing or maintaining local laws that offer renters protections that are stronger than state law, which is notoriously friendly to landlords and the real estate industry.

Florida Democrats, who have limited power in the Republican-dominated state legislature, have filed bills for consideration in 2024 to establish stronger paid parental leave for state employees, require landlords to provide functioning AC in rental units (this is not actually currently mandated under state law), and to raise the base salary for public school teachers.

This post has been updated to clarify that this is the fourth year/session in a row that Nixon has filed similar legislation.
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