Florida has one of the strictest state E-Verify mandates in the country, layered on top of the federal Form I-9 — and it reaches most mid-sized private employers.
Who must use E-Verify
Under Fla. Stat. § 448.095 (SB 1718, effective July 1, 2023), private employers with 25 or more employees must run every new hire through E-Verify within 3 business days of the start date. Independent contractors and in-home casual labor are excluded.
Recordkeeping & certification
Covered employers must retain E-Verify documentation for 3 years and certify compliance annually on their reemployment-tax return. If E-Verify is inaccessible for three business days, document the outage and use Form I-9.
The penalties
E-Verify enforcement lives in Fla. Stat. § 448.095(6) — not § 448.09, which is the separate offense of knowingly employing an unauthorized worker. Beginning July 1, 2024, if the Florida Department of Commerce determines you failed to use E-Verify as required, it must notify you and allow 30 days to cure (§ 448.095(6)(a)). On a third determined failure in any 24-month period it must impose a fine of $1,000 per day until you prove the noncompliance is cured, and the noncompliance is grounds for suspension of all licenses issued by a ch. 120 licensing agency (§ 448.095(6)(b)).
HB 197 would have extended the mandate to all private employers regardless of size. It passed the House on Jan. 15, 2026 but died in Senate Rules on March 13, 2026 — it is dead, not pending, and the 25-employee threshold is unchanged. Don't enroll below 25 employees on the strength of it.
Practical takeaways
Confirm whether you cross the 25-employee line, register for E-Verify and build the 3-business-day step into onboarding, keep records for 3 years, calendar the annual certification, and never use E-Verify to pre-screen applicants before hire or to treat workers differently by national origin.
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