Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1495 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to gender identity employment 2
16	16	practices; providing a short title; creating s. 3
17	17	110.1051, F.S.; providing definitions; specifying an 4
18	18	employment policy of this state relating to a person's 5
19	19	sex; providing applicability; prohibiting employees 6
20	20	and contractors of certain employers from being 7
21	21	required to use certain pronouns or requiring such 8
22	22	employer to use a pronoun that does not correspond to 9
23	23	the employee's or contractor's sex; prohibiting 10
24	24	certain forms from offering specified options relating 11
25	25	to an applicant's sex; prohibiting adverse personnel 12
26	26	action on the basis of deeply held religious, moral, 13
27	27	conscience-based, or biology-based beliefs; providing 14
28	28	administrative and civil remedies; providing 15
29	29	reasonable attorney fees and costs; authorizing the 16
30	30	Department of Management Services to adopt rules; 17
31	31	amending s. 760.10, F.S.; providing that it is an 18
32	32	unlawful employment practice for certain employers to 19
33	33	require certain training, instruction, or activity as 20
34	34	a condition of employment; defining the term 21
35	35	"employer"; reenacting s. 760.11(1) and (15), F.S., 22
36	36	relating to administrative and civil remedies, to 23
37	37	incorporate the amendment made to s. 760.10, F.S., in 24
38	38	references thereto; providing an effective date. 25
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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52	52	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 27
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54	54	Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Freedom of 29
55	55	Conscience in the Workplace Act." 30
56	56	Section 2. Section 110.1051, Florida Statutes, is creat ed 31
57	57	to read: 32
58	58	110.1051 Personal pronouns. — 33
59	59	(1) As used in this section, the term: 34
60	60	(a) "Adverse personnel action" means the discharge, 35
61	61	suspension, transfer, demotion, or lack of promotion of an 36
62	62	employee or a contractor or the withholding of bonuses, the 37
63	63	withholding of promotional opportunities, the reduction in 38
64	64	salary or benefits, or any other adverse action taken against an 39
65	65	employee or a contractor within the terms and conditions of 40
66	66	employment by an employer. 41
67	67	(b) "Contractor" means an individual, part nership, 42
68	68	corporation, or business entity that enters or attempts to enter 43
69	69	into a contract for services with an employer. 44
70	70	(c) "Employee" means an individual employed by, or 45
71	71	attempting to be employed by, an employer. 46
72	72	(d) "Employer" means the state or any county, 47
73	73	municipality, or special district or any subdivision or agency 48
74	74	thereof. 49
75	75	(e) "Gender identity" means a fully internal and 50
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84	84	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88	88	subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality 51
89	89	and sex, and existing on an infinite continuum that does not 52
90	90	provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be 53
91	91	recognized as a replacement for sex. 54
92	92	(f) "Gender ideology" means the false belief that replaces 55
93	93	the biological category of sex with an ever -shifting concept of 56
94	94	self-assessed gender identity, per mitting the false claim that 57
95	95	males can identify as and become women and vice versa, and 58
96	96	requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim 59
97	97	as true. The term includes the idea that there is a vast 60
98	98	spectrum of genders that are disconnected from a person's sex. 61
99	99	Gender ideology is internally inconsistent in that it diminishes 62
100	100	sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless 63
101	101	maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the 64
102	102	wrong sexed body. 65
103	103	(g) "Sex" means the classification of a person as either 66
104	104	female or male based on the organization of the body of such 67
105	105	person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the 68
106	106	person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and 69
107	107	internal and external genitalia present at birt h. 70
108	108	(2) It is the policy of this state that a person's sex is 71
109	109	an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to 72
110	110	a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's 73
111	111	sex. This section does not apply to individuals born with a 74
112	112	genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex 75
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121	121	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125	125	development, including, but not limited to, 46, XX disorder of 76
126	126	sex development; 46, XY disorder of sex development; sex 77
127	127	chromosome disorder of sex development; XX or XY sex reversal; 78
128	128	and ovotesticular disord er. 79
129	129	(3) An employee or a contractor may not be required, as a 80
130	130	condition of employment or to avoid adverse personnel action, to 81
131	131	refer to another person using that person's preferred pronouns 82
132	132	if such pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex. 83
133	133	(4) An employee or a contractor may not require an 84
134	134	employer to use his or her preferred pronouns if such preferred 85
135	135	pronouns do not correspond to the employee's or contractor's 86
136	136	sex. 87
137	137	(5) A job application or other related employment form 88
138	138	that requires an appli cant to mark his or her sex may only 89
139	139	inquire if the applicant is male or female and may not provide a 90
140	140	nonbinary or other option. 91
141	141	(6)(a) It is an unlawful employment practice for an 92
142	142	employer to take adverse personnel action against an employee or 93
143	143	a contractor because of the employee's or contractor's deeply 94
144	144	held religious, moral, conscience -based, or biology-based 95
145	145	beliefs, including a belief in traditional or Biblical views of 96
146	146	sexuality and marriage, or the employee's or contractor's 97
147	147	disagreement with gend er ideology, whether those views are 98
148	148	expressed by the employee or contractor at or away from the 99
149	149	worksite. 100
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158	158	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162	162	(b) An employee or a contractor aggrieved by a violation 101
163	163	of this subsection may avail himself or herself to the 102
164	164	administrative and civil remedies p rovided in s. 760.11. The 103
165	165	court shall award reasonable attorney fees and costs to the 104
166	166	prevailing party. 105
167	167	(7) The Department of Management Services may adopt rules 106
168	168	to administer this section. 107
169	169	Section 3. Subsections (10) and (11) of section 760.10, 108
170	170	Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (11) and (12), 109
171	171	respectively, and a new subsection (10) is added to that 110
172	172	section, to read: 111
173	173	760.10 Unlawful employment practices. — 112
174	174	(10) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer 113
175	175	who receives funding from the state to require, as a condition 114
176	176	of employment, any training, instruction, or other activity on 115
177	177	sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. For 116
178	178	purposes of this subsection, the term "employer" includes the 117
179	179	state or any county, muni cipality, or special district or any 118
180	180	subdivision or agency thereof. 119
181	181	Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 120
182	182	made by this act to section 760.10, Florida Statutes, in a 121
183	183	reference thereto, Subsections (1) and (15) of section 760.11, 122
184	184	Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read: 123
185	185	760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction. — 124
186	186	(1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01 -125
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195	195	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199	199	760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days 126
200	200	of the alleged violation, naming the emp loyer, employment 127
201	201	agency, labor organization, or joint labor -management committee, 128
202	202	or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the 129
203	203	person responsible for the violation and describing the 130
204	204	violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509 .092 may 131
205	205	file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the 132
206	206	alleged violation naming the person responsible for the 133
207	207	violation and describing the violation. The commission, a 134
208	208	commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file 135
209	209	such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with 136
210	210	the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face 137
211	211	of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the 138
212	212	commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission, 139
213	213	a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal 140
214	214	Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of 141
215	215	government of the state which is a fair -employment-practice 142
216	216	agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70 -1601.80. If the date the 143
217	217	complaint is filed is clearly sta mped on the face of the 144
218	218	complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the 145
219	219	complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this 146
220	220	section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment 147
221	221	Opportunity Commission, the fair -employment-practice agency, or 148
222	222	the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain 149
223	223	statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief 150
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232	232	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236	236	sought. The commission may require additional information to be 151
237	237	in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of th e complaint 152
238	238	being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the 153
239	239	complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation. 154
240	240	The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an 155
241	241	answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complain t 156
242	242	was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed 157
243	243	to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both 158
244	244	the complaint and the answer shall be verified. 159
245	245	(15) In any civil action or administrative proceeding 160
246	246	brought pursuant to this section, a finding that a person 161
247	247	employed by the state or any governmental entity or agency has 162
248	248	violated s. 760.10 shall as a matter of law constitute just or 163
249	249	substantial cause for such person's discharge. 164
250	250	Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 165