HR Specialist: Florida Employment Law

There’s a dark side to doing business in the Sunshine State. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This Florida-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: Florida Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

Florida ranked as one of the nation’s business-friendliest states in the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s (SBEC) Business Tax Index for 2009. The SBEC annually assesses the tax climates for business and entrepreneurs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Florida’s No. 6 ranking means only five states have better tax environments for business.

The index included rankings of the top personal income tax and individual capital gains rates in each state. Florida doesn’t have either, tying it for first.

Also rated were top corporate income tax rates (Florida came in 15th at 5.5%), top corporate capital gains tax rates (17th at 5.5%) and sales, gross receipts and excise taxes as a share of personal income (43rd at 4.39%).

Other factors included unemployment tax rates as a share of state average pay (Florida ranked fourth at 0.94%), state gas taxes (48th at 34.5 cents per gallon), and diesel taxes (38th at 29.8 cents per gallon).