Florida Senate - 2023 CS for CS for SB 1310 By the Committees on Rules; and Community Affairs; and Senators DiCeglie and Hooper 595-04208-23 20231310c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to substitution of work experience for 3 postsecondary education requirements; providing a 4 short title; amending s. 112.219, F.S.; removing 5 obsolete language; defining terms; providing that a 6 postsecondary degree may be a baseline requirement for 7 employment with a public employer only under a certain 8 circumstance; conforming provisions to changes made by 9 the act; amending s. 287.057, F.S.; authorizing an 10 agency to substitute certain work experience for 11 postsecondary education requirements for a person 12 seeking to enter into a contract with the agency under 13 certain circumstances; providing an effective date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1.Section 112.219, Florida Statutes, may be cited 18 as the Expanding Public Sector Career Opportunities Act. 19 Section 2.Section 112.219, Florida Statutes, is amended to 20 read: 21 112.219Substitution of work experience for postsecondary 22 educational requirements. 23 (1)Beginning July 1, 2022, The head of a public employer 24 an employing agency may elect to substitute verifiable, related 25 work experience in lieu of postsecondary educational 26 requirements for a position of employment if the person seeking 27 the position of employment is otherwise qualified for such 28 position. 29 (2)Related work experience may not substitute for any 30 required licensure, certification, or registration required for 31 the position of employment as established by the public employer 32 employing agency and indicated in the advertised description of 33 the position of employment. 34 (3)If the head of a public employer an employing agency 35 elects to substitute related work experience for postsecondary 36 educational requirements, the public employer employing agency 37 must include, in all advertisements for the position of 38 employment made by the public employer employing agency, include 39 a notice that such substitution is authorized and a description 40 of the related work experience equivalencies that may be 41 substituted for the required postsecondary education. 42 (4)This section does not abridge state and federal laws 43 and regulations governing equal opportunity employment. 44 (5)For purposes of this section, the term: 45 (a)Postsecondary degree means an associate degree, a 46 bachelors degree, or a graduate degree from an accredited 47 college or university. 48 (b)Public employer has the same meaning as in s. 448.095 49 employing agency means any agency or unit of government of the 50 state or any county, municipality, or political subdivision 51 thereof, including special districts, that is authorized to 52 employ personnel to carry out the responsibilities of the agency 53 or unit of government. 54 (6)A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as 55 a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of 56 years of direct experience required, not to exceed: 57 (a)Two years of direct experience for an associate degree; 58 (b)Four years of direct experience for a bachelors 59 degree; 60 (c)Six years of direct experience for a masters degree; 61 (d)Seven years of direct experience for a professional 62 degree; or 63 (e)Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree. 64 Section 3.Subsection (28) is added to section 287.057, 65 Florida Statutes, to read: 66 287.057Procurement of commodities or contractual 67 services. 68 (28)An agency may substitute verifiable, related work 69 experience in lieu of postsecondary education requirements for 70 contractual services pursuant to s. 112.219 if the person 71 seeking the contract for services is otherwise qualified for 72 such contract. 73 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.