Florida Legislators Clear Rules to Fine Employers for Vaccine Mandates
Florida Legislators Clear Rules to Fine Employers for Vaccine Mandates
(Bloomberg) -- Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature approved rules on Wednesday to punish companies that enforce strict Covid-19 vaccine mandates for employees.
In a special session this week in Tallahassee, lawmakers agreed with Governor Ron DeSantis that companies must give employees the chance to opt out of mandates. If a worker is fired for noncompliance, companies with fewer than 100 employees could face $10,000 fines and larger ones could be hit with penalties of $50,000.
The Senate approved the main part of the legislative package on Wednesday evening, and was set to discuss accompanying bills, hours after the House signed off.
The rules are a rebuke to President Joe Biden, who pushed for requiring private companies of 100 or more people to ensure their workers are vaccinated by Jan. 4 or face separate penalties from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The dueling sets of guidelines may put companies operating in Florida in a bind, even as the OSHA rules face an ongoing legal challenge.
“This is the governor’s direct defiance of the president and the federal government,” Senator Shevrin Jones, a Democrat from Miami Gardens, said during debate Wednesday.
In practice, the new state rules don’t necessarily preclude employers from making a vaccinated workplace standard -- they just have to provide opt-outs, many of which are already enshrined in the new OSHA rules. But Florida’s rules go further, insisting on the right to opt out on the basis of prior Covid-19 infection or pregnancy. Workers can also opt out if they agree to wear “protective equipment” -- most likely masks.
It’s the latest spat between Biden and DeSantis, a fundraising juggernaut in the GOP who is seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024. For the Florida governor, the skirmishes with the White House have only helped raise his national profile, attracting national headlines, airtime on conservative television and firing up his base.
Covid-19 infections are rising in the U.S. as the nation heads into its traditional winter virus season, and vaccinations have proved to be the best tool available to manage the pandemic. For his part, DeSantis says he supports vaccine access -- Florida’s vaccination rate is slightly above the national average -- but he opposes mandates as impeding on personal freedom.
Senator Danny Burgess, a Republican of Zephyrhills, who sponsored the bill, said the legislation was about fighting “against an unprecedented federal mandate.”
Senator Lori Berman, a Lantana Democrat, said the provision on pregnant women sends a message that’s “contrary to medical advice.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the benefits of receiving a Covid vaccine during pregnancy “outweigh any known or potential risks.”
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