By Adrian Middleton, Sword & Shield, PLLC · Updated Friday, October 9, 2026
The rule
Section 440.107(7)(e): when an employer fails to provide business records sufficient to determine payroll for the requested period, the imputed weekly payroll for each employee, corporate officer, sole proprietor or partner is the statewide average weekly wage under section 440.12(2) multiplied by 1.5. Rule 69L-6.028 adds that the Department uses the SAWW in effect when the stop-work order was issued, imputes for every week of the penalty period, and assigns the imputed payroll to the highest-rated classification code supported by the records or the investigator's observation of any employee's activities.
| Year | Statewide average weekly wage | Imputed weekly payroll per worker (× 1.5) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $1,357.95 | $2,036.93 |
How the number is built
The Department counts every person it can identify as having worked for the employer during the period: everyone seen on site, everyone named by a worker, every officer on Sunbiz without a valid exemption, every name on a permit or a prior policy. Each is imputed for every week of the 12- or 24-month period unless records show a shorter tenure. Ten identified workers over a 12-month period at $2,036.93 per week is $1,059,204 of imputed payroll before the rate is applied. At a roofing rate, the penalty on that is six figures.
When imputation is the better outcome
Imputation ignores actual payroll. An employer whose real payroll per worker was far above the imputed figure, whose real headcount was higher than the Department identified, or whose real period was the full 24 months but the Department only has evidence of a few workers, can come out ahead. More importantly, imputation produces a penalty without producing records that show cash payroll, false certificates, or identity problems. For an employer with criminal exposure, that can be the difference between a civil penalty and a felony.
Against that: imputation forfeits the 25 percent first-time reduction, and the imputed number is usually higher for small employers with low wages, short tenures or part-time crews.
The recalculation window
Rule 69L-6.028 gives the employer 20 business days after service of the first penalty assessment calculation (or the first Amended Order of Penalty Assessment, if a stop-work order was issued) to provide the requested business records and have the penalty recalculated from them. The recalculation requires all of the requested records, not some. This window is what makes a 'wait and see' strategy possible: see the imputed number, then decide. It is also what makes the strategy dangerous, because the records produced in that window are produced into a file the Department has already opened, with a worksheet it has already built.
The decision
Decide which method to pursue with your own audit in hand, with the 25 percent reduction, the premium credit, the 20-business-day window and the criminal exposure all on the same page. That is exactly what the pre-submission records audit is.
Running the numbers both ways takes an afternoon. Guessing wrong takes years.
(850) 766-6825Free consultationQuestions
Can I produce records for some workers and let the rest be imputed?+
The Department will do that, and the result is often the worst of both: imputed payroll for the workers you did not document and actual payroll for the ones you did, with the 25 percent reduction in doubt because you did not fully comply. It is a tactic, not a default.
Which class code is used for imputed payroll?+
The highest-rated code supported by the records or the investigator's observations. If the investigator saw anyone on a roof, imputed payroll goes to roofing. Records showing what each worker actually did are what bring it down.
Does the imputed penalty include officers?+
Yes: each corporate officer, sole proprietor or partner without a valid exemption is imputed at the same weekly figure as a worker.