The Florida Senate

443.1715  Disclosure of information; confidentiality.--

(1)  RECORDS AND REPORTS.--Information revealing the employing unit's or individual's identity obtained from the employing unit or from any individual pursuant to the administration of this chapter, and any determination revealing such information, must, except to the extent necessary for the proper presentation of a claim or upon written authorization of the claimant who has a workers' compensation claim pending, be held confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such information may be made available only to public employees in the performance of their public duties, including employees of the Department of Education in obtaining information for the Florida Education and Training Placement Information Program and the ¹Department of Commerce in its administration of the qualified defense contractor tax refund program authorized by ²s. 288.104. Except as otherwise provided by law, public employees receiving such information must retain the confidentiality of such information. Any claimant, or the claimant's legal representative, at a hearing before an appeals referee or the commission shall be supplied with information from such records to the extent necessary for the proper presentation of her or his claim. Any employee or member of the commission or any employee of the division, or any other person receiving confidential information, who violates any provision of this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. However, the division may furnish to any employer copies of any report previously submitted by such employer, upon the request of such employer, and may furnish to any claimant copies of any report previously submitted by such claimant, upon the request of such claimant, and the division is authorized to charge therefor such reasonable fee as the division may by rule prescribe not to exceed the actual reasonable cost of the preparation of such copies. Fees received by the division for copies as provided in this subsection must be deposited to the credit of the Employment Security Administration Trust Fund.

(2)  DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.--Subject to such restrictions as the division prescribes by rule, information declared confidential under this section may be made available to any agency of this or any other state, or any federal agency, charged with the administration of any unemployment compensation law or the maintenance of a system of public employment offices, or the Bureau of Internal Revenue of the United States Department of the Treasury, or the Florida Department of Revenue and information obtained in connection with the administration of the employment service may be made available to persons or agencies for purposes appropriate to the operation of a public employment service or a job-preparatory or career education or training program. The division shall on a quarterly basis, furnish the National Directory of New Hires with information concerning the wages and unemployment compensation paid to individuals, by such dates, in such format and containing such information as the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall specify in regulations. Upon request therefor, the division shall furnish any agency of the United States charged with the administration of public works or assistance through public employment, and may furnish to any state agency similarly charged, the name, address, ordinary occupation, and employment status of each recipient of benefits and such recipient's rights to further benefits under this chapter. Except as otherwise provided by law, the receiving agency must retain the confidentiality of such information as provided in this section. The division may request the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States to cause an examination of the correctness of any return or report of any national banking association rendered pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and may in connection with such request transmit any such report or return to the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States as provided in s. 3305(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.

(3)  SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR DISCLOSURE OF DRUG TEST INFORMATION.--Notwithstanding the contrary provisions of s. 440.102(8), all information, interviews, reports, and drug test results, written or otherwise, received by an employer through a drug-testing program may be used or received in evidence, obtained in discovery, or disclosed in public or private proceedings conducted for the purpose of determining compensability under this chapter, including any administrative or judicial appeal taken hereunder. The employer, agent of the employer, or laboratory conducting a drug test may also obtain access to employee drug test information when consulting with legal counsel in connection with actions brought under or related to this chapter or when the information is relevant to its defense in a civil or administrative matter. Such information may also be released to a professional or occupational licensing board in a related disciplinary proceeding. However, unless otherwise provided by law, such information is confidential for all other purposes.

(a)  Such information may not be disclosed or released, or used in any criminal proceeding against the person tested. Information released contrary to paragraph (c) is inadmissible as evidence in any such criminal proceeding.

(b)  Unless otherwise provided by law, any such information received by a public employer through a drug-testing program, or obtained by a public employee under this chapter, is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution, until introduced into the public record pursuant to a hearing conducted under s. 443.151(4).

(c)  Confidentiality may be waived only by express and informed written consent executed by the person tested. The consent form must contain, at a minimum:

1.  The name of the person who is authorized to obtain the information;

2.  The purpose of the disclosure;

3.  The precise information to be disclosed;

4.  The duration of the consent; and

5.  The signature of the person authorizing release of the information.

History.--s. 2, ch. 94-118; s. 295, ch. 96-406; s. 1067, ch. 97-103; s. 62, ch. 97-170; s. 36, ch. 98-397.

¹Note.--Section 20.17, which created the Department of Commerce, was repealed effective December 31, 1996, by s. 3, ch. 96-320.

²Note.--Repealed by s. 8, ch. 96-348.