In Florida, lawmakers are thinking about a bill that would greatly weaken protections for child labor. This is done to make it easier for businesses to hire people to fill jobs that were previously held by undocumented immigrants.
House Bill 918 would let businesses hire teens to work longer hours. This week, it was approved by a state senate committee. If it becomes law, kids as young as 14 would be able to work overnight jobs, even on school days. Not being able to work more than eight hours a day or more than thirty hours a week would no longer be a problem for children over 16 years old. In addition, businesses will no longer have to give kids over 16 a set 30-minute eating break.
The plan also lifts restrictions on jobs for children who are homeschooled, go to virtual school, or are too young to work but have finished high school or an equivalent degree.
There are stricter immigration laws in place, which means that people with special visas or who are working illegally are losing their jobs in Florida’s agriculture and tourism industries. Stefanie Camfield, an attorney and associate general counsel and director of HR services at Engage PEO, a company based in Fort Lauderdale that provides third-party human resource services, says this. “Employers will have a hard time figuring out how to fill those positions.”
The Florida legislature hasn’t decided on the bill yet, but if it does, Gov. Ron DeSantis has already said he will sign it. “Why do we say we need to bring in foreigners, even if it’s illegally? Teenagers used to work at these resorts, and college students should be able to do this stuff,” DeSantis asked at a panel talk last week. The Tampa Bay Times was the first to report on the comments.
This isn’t the only bill about hiring minors that has been proposed in Florida this year. A different, even more controversial plan would let companies pay workers less than the minimum wage if they “opted in.” This would include children if their parents agreed. Camfield, on the other hand, says that even though this bill is likely to pass, it will almost certainly be fought and will not likely become law.
Teenagers no longer have to follow certain rules when they work in some states. Research from the Economic Policy Institute shows that since 2023, Iowa, Arkansas, and Alabama are three states that have changed their rules so that minors are no longer required to get youth work permits. Kentucky lawmakers voted in 2024 on a bill that would let 16- and 17-year-olds work more hours each day and each week. And at the beginning of this year, Indiana passed a law that lets teens and young adults over 16 work as many hours as they want. The law even gets rid of the need for family permission that was needed for these teens and young adults to work before.
