Senate Bill 2208c1
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2208
By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Productivity;
and Senators Cowin and Mitchell
302-2006A-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to adoption benefits for state
3 and water management district employees;
4 creating s. 110.152, F.S.; providing a monetary
5 benefit for a state employee who adopts a
6 special-needs child; defining the term
7 "special-needs child" for purposes of the act;
8 providing procedure; providing for eligibility
9 for parental leave; providing conditions of
10 such leave; amending s. 110.221, F.S.;
11 clarifying provisions with respect to
12 commencement of parental leave; conforming
13 provisions; providing an effective date.
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15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17 Section 1. Section 110.152, Florida Statutes, is
18 created to read:
19 110.152 Adoption benefits for state or water
20 management district employees; parental leave.--
21 (1)(a) Any employee of the state or of a water
22 management district who adopts a special-needs child, as
23 defined in paragraph (b), is eligible to receive a monetary
24 benefit in the amount of $10,000 per child, $8,000 of which is
25 payable in equal monthly installments over a 2-year period.
26 (b) For purposes of this section, a "special-needs
27 child" is a child whose permanent custody has been awarded to
28 the Department of Children and Family Services or to a
29 Florida-licensed child-placing agency and who is not likely to
30 be adopted because he or she is:
31 1. Eight years of age or older.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2208
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1 2. A person with a developmental disability.
2 3. A person with a physical or emotional handicap.
3 4. Of a minority race or of a racially mixed heritage.
4 5. A member of a sibling group of any age, provided
5 that two or more members of a sibling group remain together
6 for the purposes of adoption.
7 (2) An employee of the state or of a water management
8 district who adopts a special-needs child must apply to his or
9 her agency head to obtain the monetary benefit provided in
10 subsection (1). Applications must be on forms approved by the
11 department and must include a certified copy of the final
12 order of adoption naming the applicant as the adoptive parent.
13 (3) Nothing in this section shall affect the right of
14 any state employee who adopts a special-needs child to receive
15 financial aid for adoption expenses pursuant to s. 409.166 or
16 any other statute that provides financial incentives for the
17 adoption of children.
18 (4) Any employee of the state or of a water management
19 district who adopts a special-needs child and who is the legal
20 guardian of the adopted child and resides in the same
21 household as the adopted child shall, upon adoption, be
22 granted parental leave for a period not to exceed 6 months as
23 provided in s. 110.221. The parental leave shall commence on
24 the first day the child is taken into the custody of the
25 adoptive parent following execution of the final order of
26 adoption by a court of competent jurisdiction. If the employee
27 is a salaried employee, the salary of the employee during the
28 period of parental leave must be consistent with the
29 employee's normal rate of pay prior to the commencement of
30 parental leave.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2208
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1 (5) A state or water management district employee who
2 is the adoptive parent of a special-needs child and is on
3 parental leave as provided in subsection (4) shall, if
4 otherwise eligible:
5 (a) Remain eligible to receive employer-paid benefits.
6 (b) Continue to accrue paid leave time as if he or she
7 were on active employment status.
8 (c) Be allowed to use available sick leave balances in
9 order to receive pay during the unpaid portion of the 6-month
10 parental-leave period.
11 (d) If receiving disability benefits prior to the
12 adoption, continue to receive disability benefits during the
13 parental-leave period for the duration of the disabling
14 condition. However, disability benefits or pay received during
15 the first 6 weeks of parental leave may not be doubled.
16 (e) Not be eligible for overtime or holiday pay.
17 However, a holiday that occurs during the parental-leave
18 period shall be counted as part of the parental leave and
19 shall be a paid holiday if the employee is on active status on
20 the day preceding the holiday.
21 Section 2. Section 110.221, Florida Statutes, is
22 amended to read:
23 110.221 Parental or family medical leave.--
24 (1) As used in this section, the term "family" means a
25 child, parent, or spouse, and the term "family medical leave"
26 means leave requested by an employee for a serious family
27 illness including an accident, disease, or condition that
28 poses imminent danger of death, requires hospitalization
29 involving an organ transplant, limb amputation, or other
30 procedure of similar severity, or any mental or physical
31 condition that requires constant in-home care. The term
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2208
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1 "parental leave" means leave for the father or mother of a
2 child who is born to or adopted by that parent.
3 (2) The state shall not:
4 (a) Terminate the employment of any employee in the
5 career service because of the pregnancy of the employee or the
6 employee's spouse or the adoption of a child by that employee.
7 (b) Refuse to grant to a career service employee
8 parental or family medical leave without pay for a period not
9 to exceed 6 months. Such leave shall commence on a date that
10 is determined by the employee in consultation with the
11 attending physician following notification to the employer in
12 writing, and that is approved by the employer or, in the case
13 of adoption, on the first day the child is taken into the
14 custody of the adoptive parent after execution of the final
15 order of adoption by the court, following notification to the
16 employer in writing and approval by the employer.
17 (c) Deny a career service employee the use of and
18 payment for annual leave credits for parental or family
19 medical leave. Such leave shall commence on a date determined
20 by the employee in consultation with the attending physician
21 following notification to the employer in writing or, in the
22 case of adoption, on the first day the child is taken into the
23 custody of the adoptive parent after execution of the final
24 order of adoption by the court, following notification to the
25 employer in writing.
26 (d) Deny a career service employee the use of and
27 payment for accrued sick leave or family sick leave for any
28 reason deemed necessary by a physician or as established by
29 policy.
30 (e) Require that a career service employee take a
31 mandatory parental or family medical leave.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 2208
302-2006A-00
1 (3) Any employee of the state who adopts a child shall
2 be subject to the conditions regarding parental leave set
3 forth in s. 110.152.
4 (4)(3) Upon returning at the end of parental or family
5 medical leave of absence, such employee shall be reinstated to
6 the same job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay
7 and with seniority, retirement, fringe benefits, and other
8 service credits accumulated prior to the leave period. If any
9 portion of the parental or family medical leave is paid leave,
10 the employee shall be entitled to accumulate all benefits
11 granted under paid leave status.
12 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2000,
13 and shall apply to adoptions finalized on and after that date.
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15 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
16 Senate Bill 2208
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18 The Committee Substitute eliminates the six weeks of paid
leave for adoptive parents, removes the $5,000 monetary
19 payment for a non-special needs child, structures the $10,000
monetary benefit for a special needs child over 24 months,
20 amends existing s. 110.121, F.S., on parental and family leave
to cross reference the newly created s. 110.152, F.S., and
21 extends provisions of the bill to include employees of the
several water management districts.
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