Employment Law News & Resources
to Help Protect Your Workplace Rights

The 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) protects women from being fired or discriminated against on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions at workplaces with 15 or more employees. Although the PDA has been federal law for nearly 40 years, discrimination against pregnant women continues to be an issue in the workplace. In […]

If you’ve been denied unemployment benefits by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), you may want to consider appealing their decision. Before doing so, however, you need to make sure that you weren’t denied unemployment benefits for any of the following reasons: You didn’t file in time —You must have earned wages in at […]

When making a hiring decision, it’s standard practice for employers to consider the information they’ve received from an employee background check. The information in these reports can be quite sensitive, and under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681) (“FCRA”), employers are required to adhere to stringent employee notification rules to comply with […]

Can You Collect Unemployment If You Get Fired? When employees get fired, it can be a confusing time. Unemployment benefits are there to provide financial assistance to those who qualify, but can you collect unemployment if you get fired? The short answer is: it depends on the circumstances. Since Florida is an “at-will” state, employers […]

A Pinellas County man asserts that he was fired by his former employer, BayCare Health System, Inc., for exercising his rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Employment Retirement Security Act (ERISA) to take medical leave for his chronic medical conditions. The plaintiff, John Doe, whose name is being withheld due […]

False Claims Act Violations Revealed in Lawsuit Against AmeriCare The U.S. government recently filed a motion to intervene in a false claims lawsuit brought against AmeriCare Ambulance Service, which provides service to Hillsborough and Polk County Medicare and Medicaid patients. In the suit, the relator (the person who exposed AmeriCare and brought this lawsuit) alleges […]

In 2012, Florida became the first state to rebrand its Unemployment Compensation Benefits Program as the Reemployment Assistance Program. And with it (in 2011) came a more stringent unemployment compensation policy: the number of weeks claimants could collect benefits was reduced, they were required to complete a research skills test, and they had to file […]

If you’ve been let go from your job through no fault of your own, you probably have a lot of questions regarding unemployment compensation. Florida has its own rules regarding who is eligible, benefit amounts, and prior earnings requirements. If you meet the state’s requirements and are available, able, and actively looking for a new […]

If you’ve recently lost your job, there are several reasons you may be denied unemployment benefits in Florida. Most of them can be tied to employee misconduct, but it’s important to know that many eligible Florida residents can be denied unemployment benefits for a number of other reasons and sometimes through no fault of their […]

Do you feel as though you may not have received a job promotion because you were pregnant? Or were pressured into taking early leave? Or even fired? The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) of 1978 prohibits discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Here are answers to 10 frequently asked questions that […]