Page 65 - Akerman | 2016 Guide to Doing Business in Florida

CHAPTER 6. LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

Labor and Employment
Christopher S. Duke, Esq. | (561) 671-3663 | christopher.duke@akerman.com

6.1 Federal Labor and Employment Statutes

6.1.1 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”).
The ADEA forbids discrimination based on age in employment decisions. The ADEA applies to
employers engaged in interstate commerce who have 20 or more employees for each working
day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.

6.1.2 Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

The ADA proscribes discrimination in employment based on the existence of a disability.
Furthermore, the Act requires that employers take reasonable steps to accommodate disabled
individuals in the workplace. This Act applies to employers engaged in interstate commerce
who have 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks
in the current or preceding calendar year.

6.1.3 Employee Polygraph Protection Act (“EPPA”).

The EPPA greatly restricts polygraph testing of employees. The EPPA applies to all employers
engaged in interstate commerce. Exempted are employers whose primary business purpose
is running a security service or manufacturing, distributing or dispensing a controlled
substance.

6.1.4 Equal Pay Act (“EPA”).
The EPA was an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act and is designed to promote
equal pay for men and women who do the same jobs. Therefore, if the minimum wage
provision of the FLSA is applicable to one’s business, then the EPA is applicable as well.

6.1.5 Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

The FLSA establishes the minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws for employers
engaged in industries affecting interstate commerce, regardless of the number of employees.

6.1.6 Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”).

The FMLA requires that eligible employees be allowed to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid
leave per year for the birth or adoption of a child or the serious health condition of the employee
or the spouse, parent or child of the employee; or because of qualifying exigencies arising out
of a covered family member’s call to active duty in the armed forces. The FMLA also requires
that eligible employees be allowed to take up to twenty-six weeks of unpaid leave per year to
care for ill or injured military service members. This Act applies to all employers engaged in
commerce where the employer employs 50 or more employees for each working day during
each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.

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