Purpose
The proposed rules are amended to conform to applicable provisions of Section 440.107, F.S., as revised under Chapter No. 2014-109, Laws of Florida. Under proposed Rule 69L-6.015, F.A.C., the business record retention period required for employers subject to Florida’s workers’ compensation law is reduced to two, rather than the three preceding, years of employment activity required under the previous law. Proposed Rule 69L-6.025, F.A.C., authorizes the Department to issue an Agreed Order of Conditional Release from Stop-Work Order to an employer who has secured appropriate coverage, if the employer makes a minimum initial down payment to the Department of $1,000 toward an assessed penalty and agrees to remit the remainder of the penalty in full or to make periodic payments in accord with the agreed payment schedule. The proposed rule also includes new language to provide that an employer’s failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the Agreed Order of Conditional Release from Stop-Work Order will result in the issuance by the Department of an Order Reinstating Stop-Work Order. Such orders will only be rescinded upon an employer’s payment of the entire balance of the unpaid penalty or, in the alternative, upon the employer’s entering into a Payment Agreement Schedule for Periodic Payment of Penalty with the Department prior to the expiration of twenty-one days from the Department’s issuance of an Order Reinstating Stop-Work Order. The proposed rule also adopts new Form DFS-F4-1600-B (Payment Agreement Schedule for Periodic Payment of Penalty for Order of Penalty Assessment), revises existing forms, and provides for the electronic payment of penalties. Proposed Rule 69L-6.025, F.A.C., has been renumbered to reflect the proposed changes and also includes certain technical changes.