Florida Statutes 443.17161 – Authorized electronic access to employer information
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(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Department of Commerce shall contract with one or more consumer reporting agencies to provide users with secured electronic access to employer-provided information relating to the quarterly wages report submitted in accordance with the state‘s reemployment assistance law. The access is limited to the wage reports for the appropriate amount of time for the purpose the information is requested.
(2) Users must obtain consent in writing or by electronic signature from an applicant for credit, employment, or other permitted purposes. Any written or electronic signature consent from an applicant must be signed and must include the following:
(a) Specific notice that information concerning the applicant’s wage and employment history will be released to a consumer reporting agency;
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 443.17161
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Employer: means an employing unit subject to this chapter under…. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- Employment: means a service subject to this chapter under…. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. Source: OCC
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a set of United States statutes added as Title VIII of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. Its purpose is to ensure ethical practices in the collection of consumer debts and to provide consumers with an avenue for disputing and obtaining validation of debt information in order to ensure the information's accuracy. It is often used in conjunction with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Source: OCC
- Fund: means the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund created under this chapter, into which all contributions and reimbursements required under this chapter are deposited and from which all benefits provided under this chapter are paid. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- Reemployment assistance: means cash benefits payable to individuals with respect to their unemployment pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- service provider: means the state agency providing reemployment assistance tax collection services under contract with the Department of Commerce through an interagency agreement pursuant to…. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- State: includes the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Canada, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- Wages: means remuneration subject to this chapter under…. See Florida Statutes 443.036
- writing: includes handwriting, printing, typewriting, and all other methods and means of forming letters and characters upon paper, stone, wood, or other materials. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) Notice that the release is made for the sole purpose of reviewing the specific application for credit, employment, or other permitted purpose made by the applicant;
(c) Notice that the files of the Department of Commerce or its tax collection service provider containing information concerning wage and employment history which is submitted by the applicant or his or her employers may be accessed; and
(d) A listing of the parties authorized to receive the released information.
(3) Consumer reporting agencies and users accessing information under this section must safeguard the confidentiality of the information. A consumer reporting agency or user may use the information only to support a single transaction for the user to satisfy its standard underwriting or eligibility requirements or for those requirements imposed upon the user, and to satisfy the user’s obligations under applicable state or federal laws, rules, or regulations.
(4) If a consumer reporting agency or user violates this section, the Department of Commerce shall, upon 30 days’ written notice to the consumer reporting agency, terminate the contract established between the Department of Commerce and the consumer reporting agency or require the consumer reporting agency to terminate the contract established between the consumer reporting agency and the user under this section.
(5) The Department of Commerce shall establish minimum audit, security, net worth, and liability insurance standards, technical requirements, and any other terms and conditions considered necessary in the discretion of the state agency to safeguard the confidentiality of the information released under this section and to otherwise serve the public interest. The Department of Commerce shall also include, in coordination with any necessary state agencies, necessary audit procedures to ensure that these rules are followed.
(6) In contracting with one or more consumer reporting agencies under this section, any revenues generated by the contract must be used to pay the entire cost of providing access to the information. Further, in accordance with federal regulations, any additional revenues generated by the Department of Commerce or the state under this section must be paid into the Administrative Trust Fund of the Department of Commerce for the administration of the unemployment compensation system or be used as program income.
(7) The Department of Commerce may not provide wage and employment history information to any consumer reporting agency before the consumer reporting agency or agencies under contract with the Department of Commerce pay all development and other startup costs incurred by the state in connection with the design, installation, and administration of technological systems and procedures for the electronic access program.
(8) The release of any information under this section must be for a purpose authorized by and in the manner permitted by the United States Department of Labor and any subsequent rules or regulations adopted by that department.
(9) As used in this section, the term:
(a) “Consumer reporting agency” has the same meaning as that set forth in the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681a.
(b) “Creditor” has the same meaning as that set forth in the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 1692 et seq.
(c) “User” means a creditor, employer, or other entity with a permissible purpose that is allowed under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. ss. 1681 et seq. to access the data contained in the wage reports though a consumer reporting agency.