215.425 Extra compensation claims prohibited; bonuses; severance pay.—
(1) No extra compensation shall be made to any officer, agent, employee, or contractor after the service has been rendered or the contract made; nor shall any money be appropriated or paid on any claim the subject matter of which has not been provided for by preexisting laws, unless such compensation or claim is allowed by a law enacted by two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the Legislature. However, when adopting salary schedules for a fiscal year, a district school board or community college district board of trustees may apply the schedule for payment of all services rendered subsequent to July 1 of that fiscal year.
(2) This section does not apply to:
(a) A bonus or severance pay that is paid wholly from nontax revenues and nonstate-appropriated funds, the payment and receipt of which does not otherwise violate part III of chapter 112, and which is paid to an officer, agent, employee, or contractor of a public hospital that is operated by a county or a special district; or
(b) A clothing and maintenance allowance given to plainclothes deputies pursuant to s. 30.49.
(3) Any policy, ordinance, rule, or resolution designed to implement a bonus scheme must:
(a) Base the award of a bonus on work performance;
(b) Describe the performance standards and evaluation process by which a bonus will be awarded;
(c) Notify all employees of the policy, ordinance, rule, or resolution before the beginning of the evaluation period on which a bonus will be based; and
(d) Consider all employees for the bonus.
(4)(a) On or after July 1, 2011, a unit of government that enters into a contract or employment agreement, or renewal or renegotiation of an existing contract or employment agreement, that contains a provision for severance pay with an officer, agent, employee, or contractor must include the following provisions in the contract:
1. A requirement that severance pay provided may not exceed an amount greater than 20 weeks of compensation.
2. A prohibition of provision of severance pay when the officer, agent, employee, or contractor has been fired for misconduct, as defined in s. 443.036(29), by the unit of government.
(b) On or after July 1, 2011, an officer, agent, employee, or contractor may receive severance pay that is not provided for in a contract or employment agreement if the severance pay represents the settlement of an employment dispute. Such severance pay may not exceed an amount greater than 6 weeks of compensation. The settlement may not include provisions that limit the ability of any party to the settlement to discuss the dispute or settlement.
(c) This subsection does not create an entitlement to severance pay in the absence of its authorization.
(d) As used in this subsection, the term “severance pay” means the actual or constructive compensation, including salary, benefits, or perquisites, for employment services yet to be rendered which is provided to an employee who has recently been or is about to be terminated. The term does not include compensation for:
1. Earned and accrued annual, sick, compensatory, or administrative leave;
2. Early retirement under provisions established in an actuarially funded pension plan subject to part VII of chapter 112; or
3. Any subsidy for the cost of a group insurance plan available to an employee upon normal or disability retirement that is by policy available to all employees of the unit of government pursuant to the unit’s health insurance plan. This subparagraph may not be construed to limit the ability of a unit of government to reduce or eliminate such subsidies.
(5) Any agreement or contract, executed on or after July 1, 2011, which involves extra compensation between a unit of government and an officer, agent, employee, or contractor may not include provisions that limit the ability of any party to the agreement or contract to discuss the agreement or contract.
History.—Former s. 11, Art. XVI of the State Constitution of 1885, as amended; converted to statutory law by s. 10, Art. XII of the State Constitution as revised in 1968; s. 27, ch. 79-190; s. 1, ch. 80-114; s. 35, ch. 84-336; s. 3, ch. 92-90; s. 83, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 2, ch. 95-169; s. 5, ch. 98-320; s. 8, ch. 99-259; s. 1, ch. 2011-143; s. 24, ch. 2012-5; s. 44, ch. 2014-218.
