According to the Florida Department of Financial Services, stop-work orders are based on a determination that the employer has failed to secure the payment of compensation, resulting in an immediate serious danger to the public health, safety or welfare, pursuant to section 440.107, Florida Statutes.
Employers served a Stop-Work Order have the right to initiate an administrative hearing within 21 days of the receipt of the Stop-Work Order.
Get your workers' compensation coverage in place! This is a no-brainer, but I meet so many 1st-time business owners who are unaware of their need to get it. Basically, if you are in the construction fields, you need to be covered by a workers' compensation exemption, have an employee leasing company cover your wages, and/or have a workers' compensation policy.
Read more about how to avoid getting a stop-work order.
You have 21 days to respond or you lose your rights and are deemed to have accepted the stop-work order. Contact us now.
The penalties begin at a 3rd Degree Felony and go all the way to a 1st Degree Felony if you have committed over $100,000 in fraud.
You may face penalties of $1,000 per day for every day of work that violates the stop-work order. If you falsely classify a worker as a contractor instead of an employee, you may face a $5,000 penalty per employee.
The Division of Workers' Compensation may also assess penalties equal to two times the amount an employer would have otherwise paid in workers' compensation premiums for the preceding two years.
Maybe. So called "all-states endorsements" are recognised in approximately 35 of the 50 states. You will probably need a Florida-specific endorsement. If you're "all-states endorsement" isn't recognized in Florida you could face fines and other penalties. For more information on this, read my blog post on a stop-work order penalty for a company based outside of Florida.
Before providing any information to an investigator, contact the Law Office of Kris Dunn, P.A. to help guide you through the process. Sometimes it's beneficial to not provide payroll records. Every case is unique. We can help guide your decision making.