As a Florida State Licensed General Contractor doing work in multiple counties in Florida, am I required to have all employees have signage ...

Question

As a Florida State Licensed General Contractor doing work in multiple counties in Florida, am I required to have all employees have signage on their work vehicles that are personally owned by the employees? If so, isn't forcing the employees to advertise violating their constitutional rights? Recently, one employee was issued a citation from a county enforcement division for "not complying with descriptive lettering requirements," even though he explained he was an employee of a company, not a "1099" uncertified contractor and he was using his own personal vehicle. Been doing business for 20 years and know that commercially owned vehicles need to have a sign according to Florida state licensing laws, but was unaware that our employees' had to have signs on their "personally owned" work vehicles? How can I protect my true employees (W2) from being targeted and fined as uncertified contractors?

Answer

Respectfully, I have never heard of an individual employee having to have the name of the company he or she works for on his or her vehicle. You can ask the county enforcement officer what ordinance or statute they are referencing in order to issue the citation.