Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 447.301 (2025)

Public employees’ rights; organization and representation.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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447.301 Public employees’ rights; organization and representation.—

(1)(a) Public employees shall have the right to form, join, and participate in, or to refrain from forming, joining, or participating in, any employee organization of their own choosing.

(b)1. A public employee who desires to be a member of an employee organization must sign and date a membership authorization form, as prescribed by the commission, and submit the executed form to the bargaining agent.

2. The membership authorization form must identify the name of the bargaining agent; the name of the employee; the class code and class title of the employee; the name of the public employer and employing agency, if applicable; the amount of the initiation fee and of the monthly dues which the member must pay; and the name and total amount of salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect disbursements, including reimbursements, paid to each of the five highest compensated officers and employees of the employee organization disclosed under s. 447.305(2)(d).

3. The membership authorization form must contain the following statement in 14-point type:

The State of Florida is a right-to-work state. Membership or non-membership in a labor union is not required as a condition of employment, and union membership and payment of union dues and assessments are voluntary. Each person has the right to join and pay dues to a labor union or to refrain from joining and paying dues to a labor union. No employee may be discriminated against in any manner for joining and financially supporting a labor union or for refusing to join or financially support a labor union.

4. A public employee may revoke membership in the employee organization at any time of the year. Upon receipt of the employee’s written revocation of membership, the employee organization must revoke a public employee’s membership. The employee organization may not limit an employee’s right to revoke membership to certain dates. If a public employee must complete a form to revoke membership in the employee organization, the form may not require a reason for the public employee’s decision to revoke his or her membership.

5. An employee organization must retain for inspection by the commission such membership authorization forms and any revocations.

6. This paragraph does not apply to members of a bargaining unit the majority of whose employees eligible for representation are employed as law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), respectively; firefighters as defined in s. 633.102; 911 public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1)(a); or emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defined in s. 401.23.

7. The commission may adopt rules to implement this paragraph.

(2) Public employees shall have the right to be represented by any employee organization of their own choosing and to negotiate collectively, through a certified bargaining agent, with their public employer in the determination of the terms and conditions of their employment. Public employees shall have the right to be represented in the determination of grievances on all terms and conditions of their employment. Public employees shall have the right to refrain from exercising the right to be represented.

(3) Public employees shall have the right to engage in concerted activities not prohibited by law, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. Public employees shall also have the right to refrain from engaging in such activities.

(4) Nothing in this part shall be construed to prevent any public employee from presenting, at any time, his or her own grievances, in person or by legal counsel, to his or her public employer and having such grievances adjusted without the intervention of the bargaining agent, if the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement then in effect and if the bargaining agent has been given reasonable opportunity to be present at any meeting called for the resolution of such grievances.

(5) In the case of community colleges and universities, the student government association of each community college or university shall establish procedures for the selection of, and shall select, a student representative to be present, at his or her discretion, at negotiations between the bargaining agent of the employees and the board of trustees. Each student representative shall have access to all written draft agreements and all other written documents pertaining to negotiations exchanged by the appropriate public employer and the bargaining agent, including a copy of any prepared written transcripts of any negotiating session. Each student representative shall have the right at reasonable times during the negotiating session to comment to the parties and to the public upon the impact of proposed agreements on the educational environment of students. Each student representative shall have the right to be accompanied by alternates or aides, not to exceed a combined total of two in number. Each student representative shall be obligated to participate in good faith during all negotiations and shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the Public Employees Relations Commission. The student representatives shall have neither voting nor veto power in any negotiation, action, or agreement. The state or any branch, agency, division, agent, or institution of the state, including community colleges and universities, may not expend any moneys from any source for the payment of reimbursement for travel expenses or per diem to aides, alternates, or student representatives participating in, observing, or contributing to any negotiating sessions between the bargaining parties.

History.—s. 3, ch. 74-100; s. 9, ch. 77-343; s. 191, ch. 79-400; s. 6, ch. 83-214; s. 154, ch. 97-103; s. 1007, ch. 2002-387; s. 1, ch. 2023-35; s. 2, ch. 2024-23.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 32 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1978–2023 · leading case: City of Clearwater (Fire Dept.) v. Lewis, 404 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981).

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City of Clearwater (Fire Dept.) v. Lewis, 404 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). · cites it 8× “Thus, the alternative of resignation, while protecting Lewis' employment record from the possible stigma of a dismissal, might have foreclosed the possibility of his remaining on the job by challenging successfully the grounds for his dismissal.”

City of Tallahassee v. PUB. EMP. RELATIONS, 393 So. 2d 1147 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). · cites it 6× “concluded that an overriding question which was not raised by the parties should be ruled upon initially, and we therefore entered an order on our own motion raising the following question and directing the parties to file additional briefs thereon: Are the phrases "excluding…”

City of Tallahassee v. Pub. Emp. Rel. Com., 410 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 1981). · cites it 4× “The court thus ordered that briefs be filed on the following question: Are the phrases "excluding any provisions of the Florida Statutes or appropriate ordinances relating to retirement" contained in Section 447.301(2), Florida Statutes, and "except those terms and conditions…”

Coral Gables v. Stathers Mem'l Lodge 7, 976 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). · cites it 5× “The "rights guaranteed" public employees are enumerated in section 447.301, Florida Statutes (2006), and include "the right to engage in concerted activities not prohibited by law, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

Intern. Bhd. of Painters v. Anderson, 401 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). · cites it 4× “§ 157 , which is the Federal counterpart to section 447.301(1), Florida Statutes. [12] § 447.”

Seitz v. Duval Cnty. Sch. Bd., 366 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). · cites it 2× “We observe though that in 1976, F.S. 447.301 did not contain the words "to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

Gibbons v. State Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n, 702 So. 2d 536 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). · cites it 3× “501(l)(a),(d), Florida Statutes (1995), and section 447.301(3),(4), Florida Statutes (1995).”

Palm Beach Junior Coll. v. United Fac., 475 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 1985). · cites it 2× “The collective bargaining rights of employees are guaranteed by article I, section 6, of the Florida Constitution and the PERA, specifically section 447.301. Thus, a union's waiver of the right to collectively bargain is a waiver of rights reserved to employees.”

Galbreath v. Sch. Bd. of Broward Cnty., 446 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1984). · cites it 2× “Our rejection of the proposition that Section 447.301(4) guarantees an individual unfettered access to the arbitral process is supported by the substantial weight of authority in other jurisdictions interpreting statutory provisions which are identical in all material respects…”

Hillsborough Cty. Gea v. Hillsborough Cty. Aviation Auth., 522 So. 2d 358 (Fla. 1988). “dopted pursuant thereto or to prohibit or hinder the establishment of other such personnel systems unless the provisions of such merit or civil service system laws or ordinances or rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto are in conflict with the provisions of this part,…”

Sch. Bd. Etc. v. Florida Pub. Emp., 399 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Compare section 447.301(1), Florida Statutes (1979), with 29 U.”

Commc'ns Workers of Am., Local 3170 v. City of Gainesville, 697 So. 2d 167 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). · cites it 2× “In Palm Beach Junior College, our supreme court approved our opinion affirming PERC’s determination that a junior college had committed an unfair labor practice by bargaining to impasse over language that waived collective bargaining rights guaran *171 teed by article I, section…”

Show all 32 citing cases →

— 447.301(1) — 6 cases

Intern. Bhd. of Painters v. Anderson, 401 So. 2d 824 (Fla. 5th DCA 1981). “§ 157 , which is the Federal counterpart to section 447.301(1), Florida Statutes. [12] § 447.”

Seitz v. Duval Cnty. Sch. Bd., 366 So. 2d 119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). “We observe though that in 1976, F.S. 447.301 did not contain the words "to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

Sch. Bd. Etc. v. Florida Pub. Emp., 399 So. 2d 520 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). “NOTES [1] Compare section 447.301(1), Florida Statutes (1979), with 29 U.”

Duval Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Florida Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n, 363 So. 2d 30 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).

Am. Fed'n of Teachers-Hillsborough v. Sch. Bd. of Hillsborough Cnty., 584 So. 2d 62 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991).

— 447.301(1)(b) — 1 case

Alachua Cnty. Educ. Ass'n v. Carpenter (N.D. Fla. 2023).

— 447.301(2) — 7 cases

City of Tallahassee v. PUB. EMP. RELATIONS, 393 So. 2d 1147 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). “concluded that an overriding question which was not raised by the parties should be ruled upon initially, and we therefore entered an order on our own motion raising the following question and directing the parties to file additional briefs thereon: Are the phrases "excluding…”

City of Tallahassee v. Pub. Emp. Rel. Com., 410 So. 2d 487 (Fla. 1981). “The court thus ordered that briefs be filed on the following question: Are the phrases "excluding any provisions of the Florida Statutes or appropriate ordinances relating to retirement" contained in Section 447.301(2), Florida Statutes, and "except those terms and conditions…”

United Fac. of Florida, Etc. v. Bd. of Regents, 365 So. 2d 1073 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979).

City of Miami v. Fop, Miami Lodge 20, 511 So. 2d 549 (Fla. 1987).

Sch. Bd. of Lee Cnty. v. Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n, 513 So. 2d 1286 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).

— 447.301(3) — 7 cases

City of Clearwater (Fire Dept.) v. Lewis, 404 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 2d DCA 1981). “Thus, the alternative of resignation, while protecting Lewis' employment record from the possible stigma of a dismissal, might have foreclosed the possibility of his remaining on the job by challenging successfully the grounds for his dismissal.”

Coral Gables v. Stathers Mem'l Lodge 7, 976 So. 2d 57 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008). “The "rights guaranteed" public employees are enumerated in section 447.301, Florida Statutes (2006), and include "the right to engage in concerted activities not prohibited by law, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.”

Gibbons v. State Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n, 702 So. 2d 536 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). “501(l)(a),(d), Florida Statutes (1995), and section 447.301(3),(4), Florida Statutes (1995).”

Koren v. Sch. Bd. of Miami-Dade Cnty., 97 So. 3d 215 (Fla. 2012).

Sch. Bd. of Lee Cnty. v. Lee Cnty. Sch. Bd. Employees, Local 780, 512 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987).

— 447.301(4) — 5 cases

Galbreath v. Sch. Bd. of Broward Cnty., 446 So. 2d 1045 (Fla. 1984). “Our rejection of the proposition that Section 447.301(4) guarantees an individual unfettered access to the arbitral process is supported by the substantial weight of authority in other jurisdictions interpreting statutory provisions which are identical in all material respects…”

Galbreath v. Sch. Bd. of Broward Cnty., 424 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).

Lee Cty. Sch. Bd. v. Sch. Bd. Emp. L. 780, 512 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987).

Duval Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Duval Teachers United FEA/United, AFT, Local No. 3326, 393 So. 2d 1151 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981).

— 447.301(B) — 1 case

Gibbons v. State Pub. Employees Relations Comm'n, 702 So. 2d 536 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). “501(l)(a),(d), Florida Statutes (1995), and section 447.301(3),(4), Florida Statutes (1995).”

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