Last year, the Florida Legislature enacted significant changes to the State’s Child Labor Laws through House Bill 49, and its companion, Senate Bill, 1596, which Governor Ron Desantis signed into law on March 25th of 2024. The reforms of last year sparked considerable debate regarding their implications for minors in the workforce. Now, there is new legislation pending for the Governor’s signature. To help us understand those implications. I invited Dr. Alexis Tsoukalas, Senior Policy Analyst on labor, employment, and immigration issues for the nonpartisan Florida Policy Institute, and Damaris Allen, the Executive Director of Families for Strong Public Schools, a nonpartisan organization, focused on empowering parents to support a strong public education agenda at all levels of government.
The new proposals would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to work shifts longer than 8 hours on the day before a school day, and work more than 30 hours in a week while school is in session without mandatory breaks. The bill also loosens restrictions for 14 and 15-year-olds, homeschool students, online students, and those who’ve already graduated. Dr. Tsoukalas pointed out “Essentially, it removes all existing curfew, and hours, and break protections for 14 and 15-year-olds. If this becomes law, that basically means employers can schedule these teens as if they’re adults.”
Will these reforms pass? “It’s only gone through one Senate Committee, and so far has not been put on the Senate floor agenda, and, … the Senate session is coming to a close” so, it is hard to predict, according to Dr. Tsoukalas. But, a Special Session is going to be necessary for the Legislature to pass a budget, so this may come back to a vote.
‘We’re very concerned about the exploitation of students. We’re concerned about their ability to go to school. Imagine if you had to work an 8-hour day, and then an overnight shift, and had to get up and go to school in the morning. At best, you’re falling asleep in class which doesn’t put you in a position to be successful, to learn and to advance your career. And now, with the new law that is removing the requirement to make high school start later– because science has shown that teens need more sleep– and starting at 7 am. It puts them at a real disadvantage in terms of their ability to learn… Some of these students use those 30-minute breaks to catch up on their homework. This isn’t just about them taking a rest. We forget that some of our students are forced to work because housing prices are so high they work to help their families, and so there’s going to be this additional pressure on those students to work more hours because they can.” said public education advocate Damaris Allen.
Is Florida trying to replace immigrant labor with children? “So, when we talk about immigrants in Florida, it’s important to recognize how pivotal they are to our communities and our economy, of course, besides their inherent value and worth as people. Very much important contributors to our job force, our workforce, and our economy. Two years ago a sweeping anti-immigrant bill was passed, Sb. 1718, and we and others warned at the time, if you do this, you’re going to devastate Florida’s economy. Maybe not in the next year, maybe not in the next 2 years, but it’s going to have a ripple effect. And, lo and behold! Now, we hear we need to have children working longer hours and without breaks. So, to me, it unfortunately is not surprising, but it’s it’s devastating,” said Dr. Tsoukalas.
Listen to the entire live show here, on the WMNF app, or as a WMNF MidPoint podcast episode from Spotify or Apple Music.
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