Miami WTF
Sixteen- and 17-year-olds in Florida are another step closer to being able to work more than 40 hours during the school week.
The Florida House Thursday passed a Republican-backed bill on a 80-35 vote that Democrats said would let employers exploit working teens. Not so, said the legislation’s main backer.
“This bill is about choice and opportunity for families,” said bill sponsor Linda Chaney, R-St. Pete Beach. “I trust that our families and that our teens will make the right choice for them in their own individual situation.” The legislation still must pass the state Senate before it can be sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Critics are calling the bill, entitled “Employment and Curfew of Minors” (HB 49), a “child labor” bill, saying it would walk back decades of laws protecting children and preventing them from working overly long hours.
The legislation would allow 16- and 17-year-old children to work more than 40 hours a week and would allow homeschooled and virtual school teens to work during the school day. It also bars municipalities from enacting curfews that would conflict with the bill and allows teens to work more than eight hours a day between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
A provision that would have allowed teens to work overnight was taken out early in the process, which House Speaker Paul Renner later Thursday said was a legitimate concern of the original bill.
“We don’t want kids working overnight, and that type of thing,” the Palm Coast Republican told reporters. “(We want) to make sure that we give kids an opportunity, but it’s an opportunity that’s appropriate, especially if they’re in school.”
