Fast Facts: HB 1225 and SB 918 Would Further Erode Child Labor Protections in Florida

In the 2024 legislative session, the Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 49, “Employment and Curfew of Minors.” In its amended form, the bill that passed was less harmful than what was originally proposed, thanks to strong advocacy.

In the 2025 session, the Legislature filed SB 918 and HB 1225, “Employment of Minors.” The proposed rollbacks to child labor laws would pose an even greater risk to the health and well-being of Florida youth than those contained in the original version of HB 49.

If passed, HB 1225 and SB 918 would allow employers to:

Schedule any 16- and 17-year-old Floridian for unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year.
Schedule 14- and 15-year-old Floridians who have graduated high school or are home- or virtual-school students for unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year.

Florida must not further erode protections and instead should prioritize policies to strike the necessary balance between gaining work experience and the education to become economically stable in the long term.

1. HB 1225 and SB 918 would reverse long-held child labor protections for Florida’s youth.

Florida’s Department of Education and Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR)^[1] both emphasize that the state’s current child labor laws are meant to protect children’s health, workplace welfare, and education. Yet, HB 1225 and SB 918 would undo decades of these vital protections for Florida’s children, catalyzing increased exploitation of youth workers^[2] in the Sunshine State.

While there are minor wording differences in the two bills, both SB 918 and HB 1225 would allow employers to schedule all 16- and 17-year-olds and home- and virtual-schooled 14- and 15-year-olds for unlimited hours, any time day or night, seven days per week, and without breaks.

Florida laws governing children’s work hours have changed numerous times since they were first enacted in 1913. The last time Florida lawmakers dramatically changed the hours children could work was in 1986 ,^[3] extending the curfew and ban on working more than six days in a row to those aged 17 and younger. Before this, the law only shielded children aged 15 and younger. Many of the changes proposed by these bills would take Florida back to the 1980s and beyond.

While there are minor wording differences in the two bills, both SB 918 and HB 1225 would allow employers to schedule all 16- and 17-year-olds and home- and virtual-schooled 14- and 15-year-olds for unlimited hours, any time day or night, seven days per week, and without breaks. Work experience is important, but not when it endangers youth’s health, education, and mental well-being.

2. Child labor violations in Florida are at their second highest in 15 years.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Florida had 209 child labor violations in 2023 (the latest full data year available),^[4] down from a peak of 310 in 2022. This one-year drop is encouraging; however, looking at the trends since the Great Recession of 2008-09 reveals a more concerning picture. (See Figure 1.) In 2008, Florida had 234 violations; while violations dropped steeply after 2009, they started rising dramatically after 2016. In the most recent year for which data is available (2023), child labor violations (209) are at their second highest in the 15 years since 2008.

Since 2023, the DOL has publicized cases of employers from across the state scheduling over 118 teens past legal work hours, resulting in nearly $250,000 in fines. All were in the food service or amusement and recreation industries.^[5] However, these cases are only those reported and investigated, so the numbers are likely higher.

Moreover, Florida does not have its own administrative entity (like a Division of Labor Standards or Department of Labor) to enforce wage and hour laws, unlike most other states.^[6] Weakening Florida's child labor laws amid lax state oversight would be dangerous for Florida youth — including immigrant youth, who are increasingly exploited by employers.^[7]‍‍‍

3. HB 1225 and SB 918 would impact over 110,000 Florida youth.

HB 1225 and SB 918 would impact all 14- to 17-year-olds in the labor force. Workforce data is most reliable and available for those aged 15 to 17, so estimates cannot be provided for 14-year-old Floridians. Based on teen work trends, FPI estimates that 111,311 of these teens are in the labor force and could be directly impacted by the bills. In the labor force is defined as those who are actively looking for work or who were laid off and are awaiting recall as unemployed — otherwise, they are not part of the labor force.^[8]

This includes 95,194 teens who are currently employed (86 percent of all 15- to 17-year-olds in Florida’s labor force). This data tells us that most teens this age who are seeking work already have it^[9]; eroding Florida’s child labor laws is unnecessary.

4. HB 1225 and SB 918 could endanger the 72 percent of employed 16- and 17-year-olds who also attend school.

Enrollment data is available for working Floridians aged 16 and up. Among the 83,847 teens aged 16 and 17 employed in Florida, there are an estimated 60,264 juggling work and school demands (71.8 percent).^[10] If these bills pass, they will remove nearly every state guardrail that helps ensure youth are not too exhausted to perform well in school and other extracurricular activities.

If employers are no longer required to consider school schedules, this will leave youth who are striving to complete school while holding down a job with an unfair choice: accept the hours their boss schedules them and put themselves at risk academically, or lose their job and the money and experience that comes with it. Youth living in poverty and immigrants without a documented status would be especially unlikely to view quitting as a viable option.

Working excessive hours (over 20 hours per week) in adolescence remains a risk factor for poor grades and dropping out of high school.^[11] Moreover, school absenteeism in Florida (and nationwide) remains at its second-highest level in 15 years (its peak was 20.9 percent in the 2021-22 academic year).^[12] The latest (2023-24) academic year data shows a marginal improvement; however, nearly one in five students remain chronically absent throughout the state (19.9 percent).^[13] Worse, most of the state’s 67 counties (41) had chronic absenteeism rates above 20 percent — that is, more than one in five of those counties’ students were absent 21 or more days of the school year. In some counties, the absenteeism rate has soared above 35 percent.

If employers are no longer required to consider school schedules, this will leave youth who are striving to complete school while holding down a job with an unfair choice: accept the hours their boss schedules them and put themselves at risk academically, or lose their job and the money and experience that comes with it.

An imbalance between work and school can, in turn, have lifelong economic consequences, as young adults without a high school diploma are paid the least and are more likely to face unemployment than other workers.^[14]

5. SB 918 and HB 1225 would not repeal the current child labor waiver.

There are also some technical changes in the House and Senate versions — all preserve existing child labor laws; they simply reiterate them, clarify their meaning, or reflect a stylistic change.^[15]The House bill includes language on punishing child labor law violators,^[16] which is already in law and does not reflect a policy change. Conversely, while both bills strike the existing language that states, “The department may grant a waiver of the restrictions imposed by this section pursuant to s. 450.095,”^[17]this waiver process was already in place before this language was added with HB 49 last session. Thus, this should not remove the child labor waiver process, unless the Legislature decides to add language in these bills to amend the current statute.^[18]

Under current law, youth or their employers can apply for a waiver from the hour and curfew restrictions. Being home-schooled, in private school, or experiencing a medical or financial hardship are some acceptable reasons for such a request. Currently, public school students seek this waiver via their local school districts while all other minors do so via the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.^[19]

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Notes

^[1] Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, “Child Labor,” https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/child-labor/; Florida Department of Education, “Child Labor Laws and Information,” https://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/career-tech-edu/additional-cte-programs-courses/ojt/childlabor.stml.

^[2]There are already several carveouts to these protections in Florida law-- for those who graduated high school; have a waiver from their school district or the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR); or who are domestic workers, employed by their parents, or legislative pages. Then, HB 49 passed in 2024, rolling back protections even further.

^[3] Laws of Florida, Chapter 6488, Sections 9 and 11, http://edocs.dlis.state.fl.us/fldocs/leg/actsflorida/1913/LOF1913V1%20ch6421-6489.pdf. Section 9 stated children under 16 cannot work in certain establishments (hazardous places, laundry facilities, and theaters) more than six days a week, 54 hours per week, nine hours per day, or before 5 a.m. or after 8 p.m. Section 11 stated children under 18 cannot work in messenger and telegraph settings before 5 a.m. or 10 p.m. By 1986, Florida passed more stringent hour restrictions for nearly every type of work in the state (except for domestic workers and legislative pages). See: Laws of Florida, section 1, chapter 86-13, 1986, http://edocs.dlis.state.fl.us/fldocs/leg/actsflorida/1986/1986V1Pt1.pdf. HB 49 (2024) rolled back some of these 1986 protections for teens aged 16 and 17, (see F.S. 450.081) but further rollbacks would occur if HB 1225/SB 918 pass.

^[4] FPI analysis of U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Enforcement Database, https://enforcedata.dol.gov/views/search.php. Violations were categorized by end finding date for child labor violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Based on prior analysis of this issue, there is a lag in closing out these cases, so FPI did not analyze the limited 2024 data in this fact sheet. For example, numbers the DOL reported last year on 2023 child labor violations (and FPI analyzed in a prior fact sheet) have since increased, indicating a delay in complete reporting.

^[5] FPI totaled the youth impacted and fines levied from U.S. Department of Labor news releases for October 21, 2024 (number of youth unknown, $151,606 levied) and for February 8, February 17, August 21, and September 18, 2023, totaling 118 youth and $97,036 in fines.

^[6] Alexis Tsoukalas et al, “Florida Policymakers Need to Reassess How the Minimum Wage is Enforced,” Florida Policy Institute, March 24, 2021, https://www.floridapolicy.org/posts/florida-policymakers-need-to-reassess-how-the-minimum-wage-is-enforced.

^[7] Tonya Mosley, “The U.S. is Facing a Child Labor Crisis, U.S. State Governments are Loosening Regulations,” NPR, May 4, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/05/04/1173697113/immigrant-child-labor-crisis. Immigrants are also more likely to work as domestic workers and agricultural workers, who are less protected by labor laws. See F.S. 450.081 for broad exemptions to work and curfew hours (e.g., children who are domestic workers, legislative pages, or have their school superintendent’s permission to work more or outside of curfew due to family circumstances). There are no federal limits on work hours or curfews for children working in agriculture. See p. 2, WHD, “Child Labor Bulletin 102,” revised November 2016, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/childlabor102.pdf.

^[8] Analysis of Economic Policy Institute’s Current Population Survey Extracts, 2020-2024, Version 1.0.43, https://microdata.epi.org. Of the 111,311 15- to 17-year-olds in Florida’s labor force, 95,194 are currently employed. This represents 85.5 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds in the labor force. Both employed and unemployed people make up the labor force. The CPS defines both those who are actively looking for work or who were laid off and are awaiting recall as unemployed; otherwise, they are not part of the labor force.

^[9] In 2024, proponents of HB 49 claimed the bill was necessary because there were teens in the state wanting to work who could not without a change to state child labor laws. See “Youth weigh in on proposed bill that would set back Florida’s child labor laws,” January 22, 2024, Spectrum Bay News 9, https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2024/01/22/youth-weigh-in-on-hb-49-employment-and-curfew-of-minors.

^[10] Analysis of Economic Policy Institute’s Current Population Survey Extracts, 2020-2024, Version 1.0.43, https://microdata.epi.org. School enrollment information is only available for those aged 16+. There are 83,847 16- and 17-year-olds employed in Florida, 60,264 of which also attend school, comprising 71.8 percent of these employed teens.

^[11] Jeremy Staff et al, “Is Adolescent Employment Still a Risk Factor for High School Dropout?” Journal of Research on Adolescence, Vol. 30, Issue 2, June 2020, https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12533.

^[12] Katherine Kokal, “School Absenteeism Has Hit Record Highs in Florida. Where Is It the Worst? See the List,” Palm Beach Post, January 11, 2024, https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/education/2024/01/11/school-absence-rates-by-school-district-county-in-florida-palm-beach/72148893007/.

^[13] Florida Department of Education, “Attendance: Absent 21+ Days and Absent 10% or More Comparison, 2023-24,” https://www.fldoe.org/file/7584/2324ABS21Days10Comparison.xlsx.

^[14] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Data on Display: Education Pays, 2022,” May 2023, https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2023/data-on-display/education-pays.htm.

^[15] Lines 46-55 and 61-74 of SB 918 and 83-90 of HB 1225 do not meaningfully change any current laws.

^[16] Lines 86-90 in HB 1225.

^[17] Lines 62-63 (SB 918) and 81-82 (HB 1225).

^[18] F.S. 450.095.

^[19] Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, “Child Labor Waiver,” https://www.myfloridalicense.com/CheckListDetail.asp?SID=&xactCode=1030&clientCode=7601&XACT_DEFN_ID=11037.