Overview
Over the last 50 years practicing labor and employment law, Mike has been and continues to be the first and only General Counsel of the Florida Association of Professional Employer Organizations (FAPEO), a position he has held since FAPEO’s inception in 1986. During his distinguished career, he has been the primary author of all of Florida's PEO laws (and has been an integral part of Florida’s rule making for PEOs), including unemployment compensation (where the PEO can elect to report SUTA under the PEO or its client's rate), workers' compensation exclusivity of remedy, tort reform, Florida's short-lived sales tax on services, and Florida's PEO licensing law, which is the progenitor of all of this country's PEO licensing laws. Mike and his Fisher Phillips colleague, Timothy Tack, have represented the vast majority of Florida’s PEOs during their licensure process and protected these clients and their ability to continue to furnish unabated service in Florida when the Florida Board of Employee Leasing Companies has reviewed disciplinary matters brought against licensees. Mike works on a nationwide basis with the esteemed Fisher Phillips team of PEO and staffing attorneys, including Sheldon Blumling and, of course, John Polson.
Mike has also served as Labor Counsel to the Florida Health Care Association since 1985 and he regularly writes and speaks on labor and employment topics for industry members. Additionally, he counsels a myriad of Florida employers in union, wage and hour, and employment discrimination matters.
Mike is also actively engaged in charitable endeavors involving pediatric cancer issues. He serves on the Board of Directors of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, where he also serves on its executive committee, helping to steer millions of dollars of funds to cutting edge pediatric cancer research projects around the world.
In 2018, NAPEO and FAPEO honored Mike by holding a Gala at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida benefiting CureSearch. At the Gala, more than $150,000 was raised for children’s cancer research.