Employment Policy

The employees of the Florida State Courts System are exempt from the State of Florida Career Service System under Chapter 110, Florida Statutes.

In accordance with recommendations of the Auditor General, it is the intention of the Supreme Court of Florida to create a uniform Florida State Courts Personnel System which shall govern, regulate, and coordinate all personnel and employment practices and activities with respect to recruitment, examination, appointment, training, promotion, retention, separation, or any other employment practice.

All employees of the Florida State Courts System are at-will employees and serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. For the purposes of these regulations, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida, the Chief Judges of the District Courts of Appeal, and the Chief Judges of the judicial circuits of Florida exercise administrative supervision over court personnel in their respective jurisdictions. Judicial assistants and appellate law clerks serve as personal staff to their individual judicial officers and are subject to their individual officer's plenary authority over the employment relationship -- including all hiring, supervisory, and firing decisions. (Determination of the appointment rates for personal staff will be made according to the provisions of Section 7 of these Personnel Regulations.)

It is the policy of the State Courts System (SCS) to provide a workplace free from any and all forms of illegal discrimination, and to provide equal employment opportunity to every employee and applicant for employment based solely on his or her qualifications to perform the job, and without discrimination on account of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, or age, except as provided by law, with respect to recruitment, appointment, training, promotion, retention, separation, or any other employment practice.

In accordance with Title I of the ADA of 1990, the SCS will not discriminate in any employment practice against qualified individuals with a disability, individuals regarded as having a disability, or individuals with an association with a person with a known disability. Furthermore, it is the policy of the SCS to provide a reasonable accommodation, if necessary, to all qualified individuals with a disability in order to assure equal opportunity in the application process, to enable a qualified individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of a job, and to enable an employee with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment. A reasonable accommodation will be made, on a case by case basis, if it does not impose an undue hardship on court operations.

It is the policy of the SCS to make the workplace free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment occurs if there are unwelcome sexual advances; unwelcome requests for sexual favors; or unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature from or involving an employee's supervisors, peers, subordinates or other persons in contact with an employee during the course of the conduct of the employee's business when:

1. Submission to such conduct is either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment; or
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or
3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual's work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

It is the policy of the SCS that all complaints of discrimination shall be treated seriously and acted upon promptly. The Chief Justice will approve procedures adopted by the Court for all Supreme Court officers and employees. Each chief judge will approve procedures adopted for all court officers and employees under his or her jurisdiction.

Failure to comply with this policy may result in discipline up to and including dismissal. Allegations of judicial misconduct in violation of this policy will be referred to the appropriate enforcement and disciplinary body. No individual shall be discriminated against, harassed, threatened, or intimidated for filing a complaint under these policies. Any employee who knowingly files a false complaint may be subject to discipline up to and including dismissal.

The purpose of this personnel manual is to assist in providing fair and equitable treatment of all personnel in the Florida State Courts System. The manual is intended to be an integral part of a uniform and comprehensive system of personnel administration. The regulations in this manual set forth reasonable standards for uniform personnel practices and a system to assist interchange between the employees and the employers.

State Courts System employees are at-will employees. This personnel manual does not, nor is intended to confer upon employees any protectable property interest or contract of employment.