COVID-19 Mandates Can't Override Floridians' Employment; Legislation Signed By DeSantis

BRANDON, FL — In defiance of President Joe Biden's order that some workers must be vaccinated for COVID-19 to keep their jobs, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed a bill protecting Floridians from losing their jobs because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“I told Floridians that we would protect their jobs and today we made that the law," DeSantis said at a news conference in Brandon. “Nobody should lose their job due to heavy-handed COVID mandates and we had a responsibility to protect the livelihoods of the people of Florida. I’m thankful to the Florida Legislature for joining me in standing up for freedom."

A second grader spoke at the podium standing alongside DeSantis and said she had stopped going to school because she kept getting suspended for refusing to wear a mask.

The new legislation prohibits school districts from forcing students wearing masks. Some Floridians said they are thankful to be going back to work without having to wear masks, and appreciate their jobs are saved so they can decide if they want to be vaccinated.

Florida school districts that had enacted mask mandates during this school year include:

• Hillsborough County Public Schools
• Manatee County Schools
• Orange County Schools
• Sarasota Public Schools
• Palm Beach County Schools
• Miami-Dade County Schools
• Broward County Schools
• Duval County Public Schools
• Hernando County Schools
• Brevard County Schools
• Seminole County Schools
• St. Lucie County Schools
• Gadsden County Schools
• Alachua County Schools

DeSantis pushed for the mask opt-out policy at schools in July, leaving the decision to parents if their kids would wear masks in the classrooms. According to Florida Politics, remaining mask mandates were already set to expire Nov. 20. Alachua County became the last to lift its mask mandate Nov. 10, the publication reported.

Businesses that violate the legislation will face fines, DeSantis said.

In Florida, effective immediately, according to the legislation:

• Private employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates are prohibited.
• Employees can choose from numerous exemptions, including but not limited to health or religious concerns; pregnancy or anticipated future pregnancy; and past recovery from COVID-19.
• Employees can choose to opt for periodic testing or PPE as an exemption.
• Employers must cover the costs of testing and PPE exemptions for employees.
• Employers who violate these employee health protections will be fined.
• Small businesses (99 employees or fewer) will face $10,000 per employee violation.
• Medium and big businesses will face $50,000 per employee violation.
• Government entities may not require COVID-19 vaccinations of anyone, including employees.
• Educational institutions may not require students to be COVID-19 vaccinated.
• School districts may not have school face mask policies.
• School districts may not quarantine healthy students.
• Students and parents may sue violating school districts and recover costs and attorney’s fees.

In addition, DeSantis signed three other bills into law according to the Tampa Bay Times:

• Create a public records exemption to conceal from public view investigations by the attorney general’s office into violations of the law restricting vaccine mandates. The investigations would become public once they are closed — except for an individual’s religious or medical information.
• Direct DeSantis to form a plan for the state to eventually create a new agency to replace the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in monitoring workplace safety.
• Strike from state law the surgeon general’s ability to mandate vaccination for an individual during a public health crisis.