A collective of community nonprofits, children's advocacy organizations, and other interested parties are appealing to the Florida legislature to reject two bills that could potentially undermine the protections provided by the state's child labor law. The group contends that these rollbacks would escalate the health and safety risks faced by young workers in Florida.
The Florida Policy Institute (FPI), in a press release, shared a letter signed by over 100 individuals from the coalition addressed to state leaders. The letter highlighted concerns about HB 49, which would permit employers to schedule 16- and 17-year-olds for more than 30 hours a week without breaks and for more than six consecutive days. According to FPI's research, this bill could endanger approximately 80,000 youth workers, with students making up 76 percent of this figure.
In addition to HB 49, the FPI press release also drew attention to SB 460/HB 917. Despite containing "several promising provisions," such as offering teenagers technical and skilled trade opportunities as an alternative to college education, the coalition stated its opposition to the bill in its current form. This is due to a provision allowing youths aged 16 and 17 to work on or near roofing - an activity prohibited for minors under federal law due to associated hazards.
"Florida is already dangerous for teen workers—our analysis shows that child labor violations have nearly tripled since 2019. Further, HB 49 would empower employers, not Florida’s youth. Migrant workers and those experiencing poverty, historically marginalized groups, are the least likely to be able to turn down more hours or quit," said Tsoukalas, an FPI policy analyst.
"When it comes to HB 49 and SB 460, Floridians aren’t asking for these changes—a recent poll found that 72 percent of registered voters oppose weakening child labor protections in the state. So who is? It's employers in industries that profit most from expanded access to low-wage child labor who are pushing to weaken child labor protections—in part to legalize the violations they are already committing," stated Mast, a state economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute.
