Human Resource Blog

Private Sector-Earned Time Off, Vacation, Sick Time, PTO

	Attendance Management
Vacation Request / Response Form Weekly Time Sheets Attendance Calendar for 2008, 2009, or 2010 Annual Attendance Tracker Vacation Request Form for 2008, 2009, 2010 (Calendar) Detailed Absence Report

	Benefits
Total Compensation Summary Performance Improvement Plan Performance Appraisal and Review Employee Payroll Status/Change Form Employee Change Form

Does an employer in Florida with between 4-8 employees have to offer some sort of “Earned Time Off” policy? Are they required to provide an “Employee Handbook” with information on the structure of the business? If there’s nothing in writing (i.e. clarification) are they allowed to just not pay you when you take a day off?

There is no federal or state law that requires a Florida employer with 10,000 workers to offer any type of paid vacation, sick time, paid holidays or paid time off (PTO), much less a small employer with 4 to 8 workers.

In fact, researchers were unable to find even one state that had such a requirement.

Most small employers and almost all large employers offer such benefits, along with health insurance and other perks, but there is no law that they must.

A number of states require that IF an employer offers paid vacation time, employees be paid for earned but unused vacation upon termination. However, no federal or state law mandates that employers provide vacation or sick time.

There has been some debate about implementing a nationwide law that employers would have to provide 5 paid sick days per year, but so far no bill has been introduced, much less passed.

Some state and federal laws such as FMLA, the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, require that employers give workers with a serious helath condition time off of work – but that time is unpaid.

Several states have family leave laws including California and Maine. However, even in those cases, the leave is unpaid, or the employee on family leave is paid by the state, not by the employer.

A few states require employers to have an employee handbook, or to put company policies regarding benefits and working conditions (including salary and benefits) in writing. For example, North Carolina requires that an employer give workers a copy of such policies on the first day of work.

Florida has no such provision in state law. Even if it did, the employer would be justified in having a policy that stated, “The company does not offer any paid vacation or sick time, or any paid time off.”

Both federal and Florida law require that employers pay workers for the time that they work. There is no requirement under federal or state law that workers be paid for days when they are not at work.