A controversial measure in the Legislature that would remove restrictions on work hours for 16- and 17-year-olds sparked concerns from members of the public Wednesday, saying teens could potentially be harmed by the changes.

The proposal by Tampa Bay-area Republican Rep. Linda Chaney () would allow 16- and 17-year olds to work more than 30 hours a week during the school year and allow for fewer mandatory work breaks.

“Employers consider the entry level work of teens like jobs in hospitality, grocery and retail to be ‘invisible curriculum’ that teaches them the soft skills that bolsters candidates for future opportunities,” Chaney told lawmakers in introducing the legislation. “HR managers say Gen X’ers lack career readiness skills, reducing their employment opportunities. These skills are learned as teens in their entry level positions, if they so choose.”

The proposal was approved on a party-line vote Wednesday in the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee, and is just one committee stop away from making it to the House floor for final approval. (The state Senate also would have to approve the measure, as would Gov. Ron DeSantis.)

The bill is being pushed by business interests in Florida, who unabashedly admit that they want the measure to pass to help them with a statewide labor shortage.

“Additional labor is desperately needed in Florida’s tourism industry,” said Samantha Padgett, vice president for government relations and general counsel for the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Florida is at least the 16th state to introduce roll back child labor protections in the past two years, and the 13th state to introduce such legislation in 2023, according to

Educators, labor advocates and those from farm working communities spoke out against the bill, saying it will harm the development of teenagers. “Let kids be kids,” was the response from several of those who spoke before the committee.

Based on teen work trends, estimates that up to 94,000 teens who are in the labor force in Florida could be directly impacted by the bill, including 80,000 who are currently employed.

Jessica Ramirez works with the Farmworkers Association of Florida and traveled from Apopka to speak at the committee hearing. She said her community was concerned with the measure because families like hers already have their children helping pay family bills.

“I have a 17-year-old girl in high school,” she said. “She plays soccer
and also has a part-time job. When soccer is finished she asks for more hours in her job. But I’m thinking now if this bill passes, if the boss says, ‘Oh you have to work those hours, if you don’t work those hours you’re going to be fired,’ so, what’s she going to do? Leave the school or get fired from work? That’s not fair because she loves work.”

Ellen Baker, a schoolteacher in Palm Beach County, says she sees kids falling asleep right now with the current law in place.

“They tell us they’re tired because they’re working,” she said. “Struggling workers will have less time to do their homework, and they will have a decreased ability to stay awake in class.”

But some Republicans grew weary of the concerns about teenagers.

“I think we’re wrapping our kids in bubble wrap here,” said GOP Rep. Jeff Holcomb, who represents Pasco and Hernando counties in the House.

Chaney also said some of the comments from the public and Democrats were misplaced.

“This bill is not about children, this bill is about teenagers,” she said. “They’re 16 and 17 years old. They’re driving cars. They are not children. This is not child labor.”

A measure that shares many but not all of the same policies as Chaney’s bill was just filed within the last week by Pasco County Republican Danny Burgess in the Senate. has yet to scheduled in any committees in that chamber.

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A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022. By June 2023, had enacted this kind of legislation, and lawmakers in at least another eight states had introduced similar measures.

The laws generally make it easier for kids from 14 to 17 years old to work longer and later – and in occupations that were previously off-limits for minors.

When Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on May 26, 2023, the Republican leader said the measure would “allow young adults to develop their skills in the workforce.”

of , we find the arguments Reynolds and other like-minded politicians are using today to justify undoing child labor protections echo older justifications made decades ago.

Many conservatives and business leaders have long argued, based on a combination of ideological and economic grounds, that federal child labor rules aren’t necessary. Some object to the . Cultural conservatives say and that . Many conservatives also say that teens, fewer of whom , could help fill empty jobs in tight labor markets.

Opponents of child labor observe that when kids under 18 work long hours or do strenuous jobs, it can disrupt childhood development, interfere with their schooling and . Expanding child labor can encourage kids to drop out of school and and work-related illnesses.

Long-brewing battle

Child labor protections, such as making many kinds of employment for children under 14 illegal and restricting the hours that teens under 18 can spend working, are guaranteed by the . U.S. law also does not treat 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. The federal government deems many occupations to be too hazardous for anyone under 18.

Until that law took effect, the lack of a federal standard always toward keeping kids in school and out of mines, factories and other sometimes hazardous workplaces.

Three years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld it in the ruling, which toppled a .

Challenges began during the Reagan administration

There were no child labor laws for the next four decades. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan sought to ease federal protections to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work longer hours in fast-food and retail establishments and to pay young workers less than the minimum wage. of Democrats, labor unions, teachers, parents and child development groups blocked the proposed changes.

By the late 1980s, . Some industry groups tried to loosen restrictions in the 1990s, but .

A more ambitious attempt to roll back child labor laws in the early 2000s, led by a homeschooling group, , but conservatives continued to call for similar changes.

When former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was vying to become a 2012 Republican presidential nominee, he made headlines by calling “truly stupid.” He suggested kids could work as janitors in schools.

Today, the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based think tank, is drafting state legislation to strip child labor protections, . Its lobbying arm, the Opportunity Solutions Project, has been helping push these bills through state legislatures, including in Arkansas and Missouri.

Iowa and Arkansas

In our view, Iowa has the most radical new law designed to roll back child labor protections. It allows children as young as 14 to work in meat coolers and industrial laundries, and teens 15 and older can work on .

Teens as young as 16 can now serve alcohol in Iowa restaurants, as long as two adults are present.

U.S. argue that several provisions of Iowa’s new law violate national child labor standards. However, the department for combating such violations.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed her state’s in March. It eliminated work permits for 14- and 15-year-olds.

Previously, employers had to keep a work certificate on file that required proof of age, a description of the work and schedule – and the written consent of a parent or guardian.

Arkansas has scrapped those safeguards against child labor exploitation. We find it puzzling that supporters touted the bill as enhancing because the law removes any formal role for parents in balancing their kids’ education and employment.

Federal vs. state laws

You may wonder how states can undermine federal child labor laws. Doesn’t federal law preempt state laws?

Both govern the employment of minors, and all states have . Federal laws set a floor of regulations in youth employment that cover maximum hours, minimum ages, wages and protections from hazardous jobs.

If states pass tougher laws, as many have, the stricter standards govern workplace practices. School attendance requirements vary by state, but once someone turns 18, they’re no longer covered by the .

Federal law, for example, does not require minors to obtain work permits or employment certificates, but .

With the , these efforts to weaken child labor laws are being led by Republicans.

To be sure, some states are still attempting to strengthen child labor protections.

Democrats in that would allow injured children to sue employers for child labor violations. on June 7, 2023.

Having child labor laws on the books at both the federal and state levels is only half the battle. is another matter. Many violations in recent years have involved without their parents, only to wind up working long hours, sometimes in dangerous jobs, at young ages.

Construction sites?

Other states are trying to weaken protections. want to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. during the school year with their parents’ permission, even though federal regulations don’t allow teens that age to work past 7 p.m.

Some states are considering legislation that directly conflicts with federal child . For example, a bill Republican Minnesota state Sen. Rich Draheim introduced would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work .

from politicians, child advocacy groups, education associations, labor unions and the public has defeated some of these efforts.

that would have eliminated work permits for minors, but they withdrew it without a vote. And Republican to extend working hours for children 14 and under from 7 p.m. to 9 pm. It was withdrawn as well.

In Wisconsin, in 2022 that would have let teens work longer and later. In 2023, some Wisconsin lawmakers are trying again. They want to let .

Taking aim at federal rules

There are some national efforts to weaken – or strengthen – child labor rules as well.

Rep. , a South Dakota Republican, seeks to revise federal regulations to permit 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights and up to 24 hours per week during the school year. We don’t expect his bill to pass in today’s divided Congress.

in the House and the Senate to with parental supervision.

And yet there’s also support in Congress to increase penalties for child labor violations. Currently, the maximum such fine is $15,138 per child. and would increase the penalty to nearly 10 times that amount if enacted.

And several measures to strengthen , .

With so many states seeking weaker child labor protections, we believe a federal-state showdown over the question of whether young people in the United States belong in the workforce is inevitable.

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