TAMPA -- If you live in Florida, and your boss tells you to go to work during a hurricane, you'd better go... or be prepared to lose your job. That applies not only to critical personnel such as public safety workers and power linemen, but every employee in the state.
Florida law offers no legal protection to workers who refuse a call to work because of a hurricane, if the employer is open for business, according to David Stefany, a partner in the labor and employment law firm Allen Norton and Blue.
"It's up to each employee... to understand what the expectations are...of their employer," Stefany said.
"It all gets back to the issue of employees being prepared, in advance of the storm, for any kind of impacts... whether it's child care, school closures, etc."
Stefany says man employers develop clear policies and procedures to communicate expectations during a storm situation. Many large employers already have them. But he adds there's nothing in Florida law prohibiting employers from requiring hurricane work, whether or not such policies exist.
Listen to an interview with David Stefany:
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