Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1050 By Senator Diaz 36-01364-20 20201050__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to disaster volunteer leave for state 3 employees; amending s. 110.120, F.S.; reordering, 4 revising, and providing definitions; expanding the 5 Florida Disaster Volunteer Leave Act to include 6 employees of the legislative and judicial branches of 7 state government; revising conditions under which an 8 employee may be granted leave under the act; 9 specifying requirements and limitations; providing an 10 effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1. Section 110.120, Florida Statutes, is amended to 15 read: 16 110.120 Administrative leave for disaster service 17 volunteers.— 18 (1) SHORT TITLE.—This section shall be known and may be 19 cited as the “Florida Disaster Volunteer Leave Act.” 20 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term 21 following terms shall apply: 22 (c)(a) “State agency” means any official, officer, 23 commission, board, authority, council, committee, or department 24 of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of state 25 government. 26 (a)(b) “Disaster” means an event that results in a state of 27 emergency, as declared by executive order or proclamation issued 28 by the Governor of this state or any other state or territory of 29 the United States includes disasters designated at level II and 30 above in the American National Red Cross regulations and 31 procedures. 32 (b) “Disaster area” means a location covered under a state 33 of emergency, as declared by executive order or proclamation 34 issued by the Governor of this state or any other state or 35 territory of the United States. 36 (d) “Volunteer” means an individual who has entered into an 37 agreement with a tax-exemptnonprofit organization under s. 38 501(c)(3) or s. 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code to 39 provide nonpaid services to a disaster area for disaster 40 response or recovery. 41 (3) LEAVE OF ABSENCE.—An employee of a state agency who is 42 a certified disaster service volunteer of the American Red Cross 43 may be granted a leave of absence with pay for no not more than 44 120 working hours 15 working days in any 12-month period to 45 serve as a volunteer participate in specialized disaster relief 46 services for the American Red Cross. Such leave of absence may 47 be granted upon the request of the employee American Red Cross 48 and upon the approval of the employee’s employing agency after 49 verifying the employee’s volunteer status. An employee granted 50 leave under this section is shall not be deemed to be an 51 employee of the state for purposes of workers’ compensation. 52 Leave under this section act may be granted only for providing 53 volunteer for services related to a disaster occurring within 54 the boundaries of this the state of Florida, except that, with 55 the approval of the Governor and Cabinet, leave may be granted 56 to an employee to provide volunteer for services in response to 57 a disaster occurring within the states or territories boundaries 58 of the United States upon approval of the head of the employee’s 59 employing agency. An employee who is granted leave under this 60 section must attest to his or her employing agency that he or 61 she has completed his or her volunteer service for a disaster, 62 and must also specify the period of time for which he or she 63 served as a volunteer for that event and a description of the 64 disaster response or recovery services that the employee 65 provided. 66 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.