Florida Joins Growing List of States Rolling Back Child Labor Laws

Earlier this year, the state of Florida, under Governor Ron DeSantis, enacted a law that rolls back certain child labor protections for children aged 16-17. The bill, HB 49, went into effect on July 1. The changes made in HB 49 are as follows:

• HB 49 allows minors aged sixteen and seventeen to work more than eight hours on Sundays and holidays, even when there is school the next day.
• HB 49 allows parents and school superintendents to waive the limitation that minors aged sixteen and seventeen may only work thirty hours per week when school is in session. The law will also lower the age restriction on minors working more than six consecutive days from seventeen years of age to fifteen years of age.
• HB 49 removes the work hour restrictions for minors aged sixteen and seventeen who are in a “home education program” or who are “enrolled in an approved virtual instruction program in which the minor is separated from the teacher by time only.”
• Under HB 49, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation is allowed to waive restrictions for minors when it is in the minor’s “best interest”, based on “extenuating circumstances” determined on a case-by-case basis.

HB 49 was initially written by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a right-wing think tank, and sponsored by Florida State Rep. Linda Chaney who explicitly referred to teenagers 16 and older as “youth workers” and “not children.”

The bill took effect in the midst of a major shift in the demographics of its workforce due to the State’s recent crackdown on the employment of migrant workers. The Florida Policy Institute estimates that the first-year cost of DeSantis’ new aggressive policies on migrant workers will exceed $12 billion, not even taking into account the loss of labor suffered by Florida’s agricultural and construction industries.

Chaney is echoing the discourse of industry groups like the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association —a state affiliate of the anti-union National Restaurant Association which represents major employers in Florida such as McDonald’s (a repeat violator of child labor law), Olive Garden, the Walt Disney Co., Universal Orlando, and other restaurant and hotel owners that employ a large percentage of the youth workforce. Research has found that working more than 20 hours per week can hurt children’s academic performance and can increase the risk of skipping school and other behavioral problems, like drug use. Young workers are also likely to be injured on the job and are less likely to speak up if their employer steals their wages or violates their rights under the NLRA. Given these facts, it seems Florida is trying to replace one group of super-exploited group with another.