‘Stop Work Order’ Public Database Lists Fla. Violators

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher has announced the launch of a database that will continually update employers who have been issued stop work orders. The orders are issued by investigators with the Division of Workers’ Compensation when they determine that the employer has not secured workers’ compensation coverage for its employees. Stop work orders are also issued to employers that materially understate or conceal payroll or materially misrepresent or conceal employee duties so as to avoid proper classification for premium calculations.

“This is another tool that will aid us in rooting out those who cheat the system and raise the costs of those who play by the rules,” said Gallagher. “I urge contractors and others to check this database before you contract a job. If we find out employees are working without compensation coverage – we’ll shut the job down.”

The new database is updated daily and displays employers who have been issued stop work orders. It can be queried by county, month, or by specific employer.

During the last fiscal year the Division of Workers’ Compensation, Bureau of Compliance served 1,791 stop work orders, assessed over $19 million in penalties, caused over $25 million in additional premium to be written and ensured over 13,000 more employees had workers’ compensation coverage.

The Compliance Stop Work Order Database can be accessed by going to the Division of Workers’ Compensation website at www.fldfs.com/wc/. Click on the “Databases” link and then click on “Compliance Stop Work Order Database.