Florida legislators advance bill to loosen restrictions on child labor
Legislators in Florida have advanced a bill that would loosen child labor laws in the state.
It would allow all 16- and 17-year-olds — and some 14- and 15-year-olds — to work full time, including on school days, and work overnight shifts, as well as making other changes.
Kids can work in Florida now, if they’re at least 14.
But there are restrictions on how many hours they can work per day and per week when school’s in session, according to Robert Latham at the University of Miami.
“We also limit the time that they can work, capping it off at 11 o’clock on a school night,” he said.
This bill would lift many of those limits.
Florida has a shortage of workers, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has said teenagers could fill some of that gap rather than immigrants.
Latham is skeptical. “Our immigrant workforce is in fields and farming and agriculture, in kitchens,” he said. “These are hard jobs.”
But teenagers in struggling families might sign up for long hours at hard jobs.
Sadaf Knight at the nonprofit Florida Policy Institute said that having fewer protections for them could be harmful.
“Juggling school and juggling a job, coming to school exhausted and tired, not able to focus, will really hamstring them in their academic achievement,” said Knight.
And, she added, that could have lifelong economic consequences.