CS for CS for CS for SB 88                       First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       201188e1
       
    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; requiring contracts
    7         that provide for severance pay to include certain
    8         provisions after a certain date; allowing for
    9         severance pay under specified circumstances; defining
   10         the term “severance pay”; prohibiting a contract
   11         provision that provides for extra compensation to
   12         limit the ability to discuss the contract; amending s.
   13         166.021, F.S.; deleting a provision that allows a
   14         municipality to pay extra compensation; amending s.
   15         112.061, F.S.; conforming cross-references; repealing
   16         s. 125.01(1)(bb), F.S., relating to the power of a
   17         local government to pay extra compensation; repealing
   18         s. 373.0795, F.S., relating to a prohibition against
   19         severance pay for officers or employees of water
   20         management districts; 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  extra compensation given to state employees who are included
   41  within the senior management group pursuant to rules adopted by
   42  the Department of Management Services; to extra compensation
   43  given to county, municipal, or special district employees
   44  pursuant to policies adopted by county or municipal ordinances
   45  or resolutions of governing boards of special districts or to
   46  employees of the clerk of the circuit court pursuant to written
   47  policy of the clerk; or to a clothing and maintenance allowance
   48  given to plainclothes deputies pursuant to s. 30.49.
   49         (3) Any policy, ordinance, rule, or resolution designed to
   50  implement a bonus scheme must:
   51         (a) Base the award of a bonus on work performance;
   52         (b) Describe the performance standards and evaluation
   53  process by which a bonus will be awarded;
   54         (c) Notify all employees of the policy, ordinance, rule, or
   55  resolution before the beginning of the evaluation period on
   56  which a bonus will be based; and
   57         (d) Consider all employees for the bonus.
   58         (4)(a) On or after July 1, 2011, a unit of government that
   59  enters into a contract or employment agreement, or the renewal
   60  or renegotiation of an existing contract or employment
   61  agreement, which contains a provision for severance pay with an
   62  officer, agent, employee, or contractor, must include the
   63  following provisions in the contract:
   64         1. A requirement that severance pay provided may not exceed
   65  an amount greater than 6 weeks of compensation.
   66         2. A prohibition against the provision of severance pay if
   67  the officer, agent, employee, or contractor has been fired for
   68  misconduct, as defined in s. 443.036, or for other cause by the
   69  unit of government.
   70         (b) On or after July 1, 2011, an officer, agent, employee,
   71  or contractor may receive severance pay not provided for in a
   72  contract or employment agreement if the severance pay represents
   73  the settlement of an employment dispute. Such severance pay may
   74  not exceed an amount greater than 6 weeks of compensation. The
   75  settlement may not include provisions that limit the ability of
   76  any party to the settlement to discuss the dispute or
   77  settlement.
   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;
   88         2. Early retirement under provisions established in an
   89  actuarially funded pension plan subject to part VII of chapter
   90  112; or
   91         3. A subsidy for the cost of a group insurance plan
   92  available to an employee upon normal or disability retirement
   93  which is available to all employees of the unit of government
   94  pursuant to the unit’s health insurance plan. This subparagraph
   95  does not limit the ability of a unit of government to reduce or
   96  eliminate such subsidies.
   97         (5) Any agreement or contract, executed on or after July 1,
   98  2011, which involves extra compensation between a unit of
   99  government and an officer, agent, employee, or contractor may
  100  not include provisions that limit the ability of any party to
  101  the agreement or contract to discuss the agreement or contract.
  102         Section 2. Present subsections (8) through (10) of section
  103  166.021, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7)
  104  through (9) respectively, and present subsection (7) of that
  105  section is amended, to read:
  106         166.021 Powers.—
  107         (7) Notwithstanding the prohibition against extra
  108  compensation set forth in s. 215.425, the governing body of a
  109  municipality may provide for an extra compensation program,
  110  including a lump-sum bonus payment program, to reward
  111  outstanding employees whose performance exceeds standards, if
  112  the program provides that a bonus payment may not be included in
  113  an employee’s regular base rate of pay and may not be carried
  114  forward in subsequent years.
  115         Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (14) of
  116  section 112.061, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  117         112.061 Per diem and travel expenses of public officers,
  118  employees, and authorized persons.—
  119         (14) APPLICABILITY TO COUNTIES, COUNTY OFFICERS, DISTRICT
  120  SCHOOL BOARDS, SPECIAL DISTRICTS, AND METROPOLITAN PLANNING
  121  ORGANIZATIONS.—
  122         (a) The following entities may establish rates that vary
  123  from the per diem rate provided in paragraph (6)(a), the
  124  subsistence rates provided in paragraph (6)(b), or the mileage
  125  rate provided in paragraph (7)(d) if those rates are not less
  126  than the statutorily established rates that are in effect for
  127  the 2005-2006 fiscal year:
  128         1. The governing body of a county by the enactment of an
  129  ordinance or resolution;
  130         2. A county constitutional officer, pursuant to s. 1(d),
  131  Art. VIII of the State Constitution, by the establishment of
  132  written policy;
  133         3. The governing body of a district school board by the
  134  adoption of rules;
  135         4. The governing body of a special district, as defined in
  136  s. 189.403(1), except those special districts that are subject
  137  to s. 166.021(9) 166.021(10), by the enactment of a resolution;
  138  or
  139         5. Any metropolitan planning organization created pursuant
  140  to s. 339.175 or any other separate legal or administrative
  141  entity created pursuant to s. 339.175 of which a metropolitan
  142  planning organization is a member, by the enactment of a
  143  resolution.
  144         (c) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection,
  145  counties, county constitutional officers and entities governed
  146  by those officers, district school boards, special districts,
  147  and metropolitan planning organizations, other than those
  148  subject to s. 166.021(9) 166.021(10), remain subject to the
  149  requirements of this section.
  150         Section 4. Paragraph (bb) of subsection (1) of section
  151  125.01 and section 373.0795, Florida Statutes, are repealed.
  152         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.