Florida lawmakers unanimously advance bill to expand protections for temp workers

Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, speaking to the Senate Commerce and Tourism committee Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. Credit: The Florida Channel

A bill that would help temp workers and day laborers secure stable, permanent employment advanced through a Senate committee of lawmakers Wednesday in a unanimous and bipartisan vote of approval.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia of Miami, would effectively amend and strengthen the Florida Labor Pool Act — a 1995 law that established certain protections for temp workers that aren’t guaranteed under federal law. This includes preventing a business or temp agency (also known as a labor pool) from charging temp workers for safety equipment, or charging exorbitant fees for lunch or transportation to a job site.

Sen. Garcia, however, told the Senate Commerce & Tourism committee that the existing law offers insufficient protections to prevent a labor pool from effectively locking a temp worker out of a permanent job elsewhere.

“The current issues with FLPA are that Florida businesses often want to hire hard-working day laborers permanently after temporary assignments, but under the existing FLPA, labor pools are allowed to collect a reasonable ‘placement fee’ from third party employers — sometimes thousands of dollars — when an employer hires a worker permanently,” Garcia said. “This sort of discourages permanent hiring and limits job stability.”

Under her proposal, labor pools would be barred from charging a third-party employer a “placement fee,” effectively removing a barrier to full-time employment for workers. The bill (SB 1112) would also establish baseline accountability measures for labor pools by requiring them to register annually with the Department of Commerce.

Under Florida statutes, a labor pool is defined as a “business entity that operates a labor hall” by, for example, hiring or contracting workers to fill temporary labor contracts for day labor.

Certain entities, including labor union hiring halls and agencies that solely supply “white collar employees, secretarial employees, clerical employees, or skilled laborers” are exempt from the Florida Labor Pool Act’s provisions.

“Many labor pools operate without stringent oversight, making it difficult to track or hold them accountable,” Garcia said. “Unregistered, fly-by-night labor pools can exploit workers and disappear, leaving workers unpaid and businesses exposed.”

Her bill was strongly backed by a group of temp workers from South Florida, organized with the nonprofit worker center Beyond the Bars, who traveled to Tallahassee to speak in favor of it Wednesday.

Advocates, including current and former temp workers who helped fight off an effort to repeal the Florida Labor Pool Act last year, said Garcia’s proposal would improve safety for temp workers and promote more stable, dignified job opportunities for day laborers, including formerly incarcerated workers with few other job prospects.

“Standards in temp work, regarding safety, mobility and pay, are instituted only through goodwill, which I can personally testify is not enough,” said Jandrick Castro, a construction and warehouse temp worker from Sanford and graduate of the University of Chicago.

“I implore you all, do not leave us workers who run the logistics of this state, who build the skyscrapers, hotels and infrastructure of our cities and towns — do not continue to leave us hanging in the precarity of temp work, and let us develop our skills, sell our services in a free and fair market, and improve the state of Florida for the better.”

According to a recent report from Beyond the Bars, about 70 percent of people returning from prison or jail in South Florida go to temp agencies for work, in part due to the flexibility often needed to comply with conditions of probation. Garcia, and advocates with Beyond the Bars, argued that strengthening the Labor Pool Act would help promote successful re-entry into society and decrease recidivism.

With Florida’s crumbling prison system, lawmakers have been searching for ways to alleviate prison and jail populations and promote rehabilitation, including by actually helping the incarcerated access educational and vocational opportunities.

Jasmine Williams, a member of Beyond the Bars, said that when she was released from incarceration, she turned to temp work, believing agencies would give her a fair opportunity.

“Instead, I faced discrimination, unsafe conditions, and large deductions tied to placement costs — costs that ultimately hurt workers trying to rebuild their lives.”

“These changes mean safety without fear. They mean dignity on the job.”

“I am here not just for myself, but for the many workers who don’t have the ability to stand here today,” she told the panel of lawmakers. “People who want to work, who want to provide, but are being pushed further behind by unfair practices they don’t have the power to challenge.”

According to the American Staffing Association, Florida has nearly 1 million temporary workers, often working precarious jobs, who aren’t afforded the same rights guaranteed to full-time workers under federal or state law.

“These changes mean safety without fear,” said Beyond the Bars member Claude Parfait, a day laborer himself. “They mean dignity on the job.”

Nearly three dozen people spoke or waived in support of Garcia’s proposal Wednesday, including representatives of the Florida AFL-CIO — a statewide federation of over 500 labor unions — and the pro-labor Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy.

Not a single person or entity expressed opposition to it.

The bill, advanced unanimously in a 9-0 vote Wednesday, must still be approved by two additional Senate committees, plus the full Senate, in order to pass. The legislation would also need to be approved by a majority of representatives in the Florida House before being sent to the Governor’s Office.

Florida’s 2026 regular legislative session kicked off Jan. 13 and is scheduled to last 60 days, through March 13. The Florida Legislature is, at the same time, considering bills that would allow employers to pay certain workers less than minimum wage and make it harder for workers to access unemployment benefits in the event of an unexpected layoff.

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