Florida Senate - 2011                        CS for CS for SB 88
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Judiciary; and Community Affairs; and
       Senators Gaetz and Storms
       
       
       
       590-03779-11                                            201188c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public employee compensation;
    3         amending s. 215.425, F.S.; revising provisions
    4         relating to the prohibition against the payment of
    5         extra compensation; providing for bonuses; specifying
    6         the conditions for paying bonuses; prohibiting
    7         provisions in contracts that provide for severance
    8         pay; allowing for severance pay under specified
    9         circumstances; defining the term “severance pay”;
   10         prohibiting a contract provision that provides for
   11         extra compensation to limit the ability to discuss the
   12         contract; amending s. 166.021, F.S.; deleting a
   13         provision that allows a municipality to pay extra
   14         compensation; amending s. 112.061, F.S.; conforming
   15         cross-references; repealing s. 125.01(1)(bb), F.S.,
   16         relating to the power of a local government to pay
   17         extra compensation; repealing s. 373.0795, F.S.,
   18         relating to a prohibition against severance pay for
   19         officers or employees of water management districts;
   20         providing an effective date.
   21  
   22  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   23  
   24         Section 1. Section 215.425, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   25  read:
   26         215.425 Extra compensation claims prohibited; bonuses;
   27  severance pay.—
   28         (1) No extra compensation shall be made to any officer,
   29  agent, employee, or contractor after the service has been
   30  rendered or the contract made; nor shall any money be
   31  appropriated or paid on any claim the subject matter of which
   32  has not been provided for by preexisting laws, unless such
   33  compensation or claim is allowed by a law enacted by two-thirds
   34  of the members elected to each house of the Legislature.
   35  However, when adopting salary schedules for a fiscal year, a
   36  district school board or community college district board of
   37  trustees may apply the schedule for payment of all services
   38  rendered subsequent to July 1 of that fiscal year.
   39         (2)The provisions of This section does do not apply to:
   40         (a) Extra compensation given to state employees who are
   41  included within the senior management group pursuant to rules
   42  adopted by the Department of Management Services; to extra
   43  compensation given to county, municipal, or special district
   44  employees pursuant to policies adopted by county or municipal
   45  ordinances or resolutions of governing boards of special
   46  districts or to employees of the clerk of the circuit court
   47  pursuant to written policy of the clerk; or to
   48         (b) A clothing and maintenance allowance given to
   49  plainclothes deputies pursuant to s. 30.49.
   50         (3) Any policy, ordinance, rule, or resolution designed to
   51  implement a bonus scheme must:
   52         (a) Base the award of a bonus on work performance;
   53         (b) Describe the performance standards and evaluation
   54  process by which a bonus will be awarded;
   55         (c) Notify all employees of the policy, ordinance, rule, or
   56  resolution before the beginning of the evaluation period on
   57  which a bonus will be based; and
   58         (d) Consider all employees for the bonus.
   59         (4)(a) On or after July 1, 2011, a unit of government may
   60  not enter into a contract or employment agreement that contains
   61  a provision for severance pay with an officer, agent, employee,
   62  or contractor.
   63         (b) On or after July 1, 2011, an officer, agent, employee,
   64  or contractor may receive severance pay only if:
   65         1. The severance pay is paid from wholly private funds, the
   66  payment and receipt of which do not otherwise violate part III
   67  of chapter 112;
   68         2. The severance pay is administered under part II of
   69  chapter 112 on behalf of an agency outside this state and would
   70  be permitted under that agency’s personnel system;
   71         3. The severance pay represents the settlement of an
   72  employment dispute. Such settlement may not include provisions
   73  that limit the ability of any party to the settlement to discuss
   74  the dispute or settlement; or
   75         4. Provision for the severance pay is expressly included in
   76  a contract for employment which was entered into before July 1,
   77  2011.
   78         (c) This subsection does not create an entitlement to
   79  severance pay in the absence of its authorization.
   80         (d) As used in this subsection, the term “severance pay”
   81  means the actual or constructive compensation, including salary,
   82  benefits, or perquisites, for employment services yet to be
   83  rendered which is provided to an employee who has recently been
   84  or is about to be terminated. The term does not include
   85  compensation for:
   86         1. Earned and accrued annual, sick, compensatory, or
   87  administrative leave; or
   88         2. Early retirement under provisions established in an
   89  actuarially funded pension plan subject to part VII of chapter
   90  112.
   91         (5) Any agreement or contract, executed on or after July 1,
   92  2011, which involves extra compensation between a unit of
   93  government and an officer, agent, employee, or contractor may
   94  not include provisions that limit the ability of any party to
   95  the agreement or contract to discuss the agreement or contract.
   96         Section 2. Present subsections (8) through (10) of section
   97  166.021, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7)
   98  through (9) respectively, and present subsection (7) of that
   99  section is amended, to read:
  100         166.021 Powers.—
  101         (7) Notwithstanding the prohibition against extra
  102  compensation set forth in s. 215.425, the governing body of a
  103  municipality may provide for an extra compensation program,
  104  including a lump-sum bonus payment program, to reward
  105  outstanding employees whose performance exceeds standards, if
  106  the program provides that a bonus payment may not be included in
  107  an employee’s regular base rate of pay and may not be carried
  108  forward in subsequent years.
  109         Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (14) of
  110  section 112.061, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  111         112.061 Per diem and travel expenses of public officers,
  112  employees, and authorized persons.—
  113         (14) APPLICABILITY TO COUNTIES, COUNTY OFFICERS, DISTRICT
  114  SCHOOL BOARDS, SPECIAL DISTRICTS, AND METROPOLITAN PLANNING
  115  ORGANIZATIONS.—
  116         (a) The following entities may establish rates that vary
  117  from the per diem rate provided in paragraph (6)(a), the
  118  subsistence rates provided in paragraph (6)(b), or the mileage
  119  rate provided in paragraph (7)(d) if those rates are not less
  120  than the statutorily established rates that are in effect for
  121  the 2005-2006 fiscal year:
  122         1. The governing body of a county by the enactment of an
  123  ordinance or resolution;
  124         2. A county constitutional officer, pursuant to s. 1(d),
  125  Art. VIII of the State Constitution, by the establishment of
  126  written policy;
  127         3. The governing body of a district school board by the
  128  adoption of rules;
  129         4. The governing body of a special district, as defined in
  130  s. 189.403(1), except those special districts that are subject
  131  to s. 166.021(9) 166.021(10), by the enactment of a resolution;
  132  or
  133         5. Any metropolitan planning organization created pursuant
  134  to s. 339.175 or any other separate legal or administrative
  135  entity created pursuant to s. 339.175 of which a metropolitan
  136  planning organization is a member, by the enactment of a
  137  resolution.
  138         (c) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,
  139  counties, county constitutional officers and entities governed
  140  by those officers, district school boards, special districts,
  141  and metropolitan planning organizations, other than those
  142  subject to s. 166.021(9) 166.021(10), remain subject to the
  143  requirements of this section.
  144         Section 4. Paragraph (bb) of subsection (1) of section
  145  125.01 and section 373.0795, Florida Statutes, are repealed.
  146         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.