Information on Workman's Compensation in Florida

Injuries

The Florida workers' compensation system covers physical injuries, but excludes benefits for mental anguish or mental distress injuries. You qualify for benefits if you sustained a work-related injury that was not caused by your own misconduct and did not occur during intoxication.

If you obtain a certified opinion from your physician stating that you are unable to work, you qualify for temporary total disability benefits after the eighth day of missed work. You receive benefits equal to two-thirds of your pre-injury wages and after 21 days of missed work, you can recoup the first seven days of compensation for unpaid work during the waiting period. Under Florida law, you can also receive temporary partial disability benefits if you are able to work after your injury but receive reduced earnings. If you qualify for partial disability benefits, then you receive benefits equal to 80 percent of the difference in your earnings. You can receive up to 104 weeks of temporary partial and temporary total disability compensation.

Florida also allows you to receive permanent disability compensation if your medical situation will not improve with additional treatment. Under the permanent compensation rules, you receive 66.6 percent of your wages until you reach age 75 and are eligible for Social Security benefits.

Employers must post the Florida "Anti-Fraud Notice" and "Broken Arm Poster" in their workplace in a conspicuous area. You should identify your insurance carrier and provide your employees with contact information to report their workplace injuries. Florida requires you to contact the Workers' Compensation Division within 24 hours of a workplace death and report injuries within seven days of receiving notification from your injured employees. You must purchase coverage for all of your employees if you are in the construction industry. Non-construction industry employers must purchase coverage if they employ at least four employees. However, Florida provides limited exceptions to coverage for seasonal and agricultural businesses.

Florida imposes fines against employers who do not purchase mandatory coverage or failed to timely report their workplace injuries. Employers can pay more than $500 in late filing fines and pay interest and penalties on the amount of compensation they failed to pay on time. Employers who are required to purchase coverage and fail to do so face felony charges. Florida provides a monetary reward of up to $25,000 to employees who report employers who fraudulently attempted to circumvent the state workers' compensation laws and their reporting leads to an arrest and conviction. Fraudulent schemes include employers who altered coverage certificates, misclassified employees to lower their insurance costs, claimed employees were subcontractors to avoid purchasing insurance or concealed payroll records.

Since employment laws can frequently change, you should not use this information as a substitute for legal advice. Seek advice through an attorney licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction.