State law · For employers

Florida background check laws for employers

What Florida law says about background checks for employment, beyond the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Each section shows the rule, who it covers, its exceptions and the law it comes from.

Reviewed Oct 20, 2026
Primary sources
7 laws cited

At a glance

The Florida rules on each topic, in one line. Federal law applies to every topic.

Topic	Florida rule
Criminal history questions	No state rule. Federal law applies.
Limits on what a report includes	No state rule. Federal law applies.
Sealed and expunged records	Florida seals non-conviction records automatically and seals or expunges others by court order.
Credit checks	No state rule. Federal law applies.
Salary history	No state rule. Federal law applies.
Cannabis	No off-duty cannabis protection for employees.
Drug testing procedures	Florida’s Drug-Free Workplace Act constrains testing only for employers that opt in to qualify for the workers’ compensation premium discount (627.0915) and to deny benefits after a positive test.
State consumer reporting law	No state rule. Federal law applies.

Sealed and expunged records

Who it covers: The subject of the record and anyone asking about it; FDLE and clerks for the sealing itself.

In force since: July 1, 2026

Florida seals non-conviction records automatically and seals or expunges others by court order. Since the 2019 act, FDLE must automatically seal a criminal history record where no charging document was filed, the case was dismissed or nolle prossed, or the person was acquitted, unless the charge was a forcible felony or another listed offense. An automatically sealed record has the same effect as a court-sealed record. A person whose record is expunged or sealed may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge the arrests it covers. That right does not apply when the person applies to a criminal justice agency, the Florida Bar, DCF and the other listed health and human-services agencies or their contractors in sensitive positions, the Department of Education and schools, insurance-agent licensing, guardianship, the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse, or (for sealed records) firearm purchase and concealed-carry licensing. FDLE discloses expunged-record existence to those entities. Private employers outside those categories get no disclosure and the applicant may deny.

Exceptions

Employment with a criminal justice agency; Florida Bar admission (943.0585(6)(b)1., 4.).
Employment, licensure, or contracting with DCF, Vocational Rehabilitation, AHCA, APD, Department of Health, Department of Elderly Affairs, or Department of Juvenile Justice, or their contractors or licensees in sensitive positions with children, the disabled, or the elderly (943.0585(6)(b)5.).
Employment, licensure, or contracting with the Department of Education, school districts, charter, virtual, private, and parochial schools, or child-care licensing entities, and persons screened under 1012.467 (943.0585(6)(b)6.).
Insurance agent licensing; guardianship under 744.3125; screening through the Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse by a qualified entity under 435.12 (943.0585(6)(b)7.-9.).
For sealed records only, also firearm purchases from licensed dealers and concealed-weapon licenses (943.059(6)(b)).
Automatic sealing excludes forcible felonies and enumerated offenses, insanity acquittals, and dismissals under 916.145 or 985.19 (943.0595).

Fla. Stat. 943.0585(6)(b) · Fla. Stat. 943.0595(2)(a), (3)(d) · Ch. 2026-114, Laws of Fla. (CS/CS/HB 1069), sec. 3 and sec. 8 · Ch. 2019-167, Laws of Fla., sec. 52 (creating 943.0595) and sec. 156

Cannabis use and testing

Who it covers: All Florida employers.

In force since: June 23, 2017

No off-duty cannabis protection for employees. The medical marijuana statute says it does not limit an employer’s ability to establish, continue, or enforce a drug-free workplace program or policy, does not require an employer to accommodate medical use in any workplace or an employee working under the influence, and creates no cause of action against an employer for wrongful discharge or discrimination. Recreational marijuana is not legal in Florida. Pre-employment THC testing is not limited by statute.

Fla. Stat. 381.986(15)(a)-(c) · Ch. 2017-232, Laws of Fla. (SB 8-A), sec. 20

Drug and alcohol testing procedures

Who it covers: Employers that implement a drug-free workplace program under 440.102 to obtain the premium discount or deny compensation benefits; voluntary.

Florida’s Drug-Free Workplace Act constrains testing only for employers that opt in to qualify for the workers’ compensation premium discount (627.0915) and to deny benefits after a positive test. A participating employer must give a one-time written policy statement before testing and, if it had no program, wait at least sixty days between the general notice and the first test (programs in place before July 1, 1990 are exempt from the wait). It must note drug testing on vacancy announcements for positions that require it. It must test job applicants (and may refuse to hire on a refusal or confirmed positive), and must test on reasonable suspicion, in routine fitness-for-duty exams, and in follow-up after rehabilitation. All positive initial tests must be confirmed by GC/MS or an equivalent method, reviewed by a medical review officer, and the employee or applicant has five working days after notice of a confirmed positive to explain or contest it. Employers outside the program face no state procedural rule.

Exceptions

Employers that do not adopt a 440.102 program have no legal duty to test and are outside the procedural rules (440.102(2)).

Fla. Stat. 440.102(3)(a), (3)(b) · Fla. Stat. 440.102(4)(a)1. · Fla. Stat. 440.102(6)(c) · Fla. Stat. 440.102(3)(b)-(c) · Fla. Stat. 440.102(5)(i)

Where federal law alone applies

We found no Florida rule for private employers on these topics. The FCRA and other federal laws still apply.

Criminal history questions
Limits on what a report includes
Credit checks
Salary history
State consumer reporting law

Local rules

Some places in Florida add their own rules. A local rule applies on top of the state rule.

Gainesville (city). Fair Chance Hiring ordinance for private employers with 15 or more employees whose primary work location is in the city (including agencies acting for an employer). No job posting may state or imply that a criminal history is an automatic bar. No criminal-history inquiry, directly or by background check, until after a conditional offer. Adverse action only after an individualized assessment (nature and gravity of the offense, age at the time, time since the offense and sentence, nature of the job, evidence of rehabilitation). Written notice that the adverse action was based on criminal history, with the required sentence citing sec. 14.5-181. Exempts the U.S. and wholly owned federal corporations, tax-exempt 501(c) clubs, the state and its agencies and political subdivisions, child-care facilities, chapter 400 and 429 care facilities, and entities excluded by state or federal law. Civil fines up to $500 per violation. Gainesville Code of Ordinances ch. 14.5 (Miscellaneous Business Regulations), art. IX (Fair Chance Hiring), secs. 14.5-180 to 14.5-185

Adverse action notices

Before you reject or act against someone because of a background check report, the FCRA requires a pre-adverse action notice, a wait, and then a final notice. The adverse action letter generator writes both notices and adds the Florida requirements where they apply.

The waiting period calculator gives the date under the federal rule.

Paperwork at hire

Besides the federal Form I-9 and W-4, Florida sets these for each new hire.

State withholding. Florida has no state income tax on wages, so there is no state withholding form; collect only the federal Form W-4.
New hire report. Report each new hire to Florida within 20 days; some independent contractors must be reported too. State new hire reporting
Notices at hire. Florida adds none beyond the federal forms that every employer gives.
E-Verify. Private employers with 25 or more employees must run each new hire through E-Verify within 3 business days after the first day of paid work, keep the records 3 years, and certify compliance on the first reemployment tax return each year.

Build the new hire checklist for Florida, with city rules, special cases and a due date for each item.

Sources

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

After the hire

Once a background check clears, payroll and onboarding come next. Rippling (paid link) runs payroll, benefits and onboarding from one employee record.