25-03-2025
Lawmakers continue push to roll back child labor laws, undercut minimum wage
Some Florida teenagers could soon be working night shifts before a school day, and for less than the minimum wage.
Two bills moving in the Legislature would remove a ban on some teen employees working after 11 p.m. or before 6:30 p.m. before a school day and allow worker classed as interns or trainees to opt to receive sub-minimum wage pay.
Democrats and worker advocates have slammed both bills as enabling exploitation of young workers at the expense of their education.
'So we're going to make children work long hours and they're going to opt out of the minimum wage? What kind of future are we creating for them?' Sen. Kristen Arrington, D-Kissimmee, said during a debate in the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Tuesday over SB 918, the child labor bill.
But supporters of the bills say they're helping teens gain work experience and develop skills that will benefit them in the workplace in the future. Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, sponsor of SB 918 said parents should be able to decide whether to permit their child to work night hours, and teen workers wouldn't be in dangerous working conditions.
'Frankly, we're not talking 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair. We're talking about them working at Publix or Piggly Wiggly or jobs within that industry,' Collins said.
He also noted the bill, while removing child labor restrictions in state law, still keeps standards under federal law, which isn't as strict.
Florida law, though, already has a waiver program that allows school administrators to allow a student to work late hours.
'Right now parents and students have the flexibility. They have the flexibility because of the waiver program. This bill takes that flexibility away and gives it to the employer,' said Rich Templin, director of public policy with the Florida AFL-CIO.
Even some Republicans expressed reservations about rolling back child labor protections. GOP Sens. Tom Wright of New Smyrna Beach and Nick DiCeglie of Indian Rocks Beach said they're voting for it but want to see changes to the bill moving forward.
Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, voted against it, meaning it barely passed the panel on a 5-4 vote.
'We need to let kids be kids,' said Gruters, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. 'I just think it sends a bad message and I think we should allow kids to work the hours they're allowed now under the waiver system.'
At the same time that bill was moving through the Senate, a House panel was considering HB 541, which would allow interns, workforce trainees and those in pre-apprenticeship programs to opt to receive a salary below the minimum wage.
Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, the bill sponsor, said the measure is needed to allow companies to offer job training opportunities to people.
'The answer to why people would choose this - that is that they see value outside of the pay,' Chamberlin told the House Careers and Workforce Subcommittee. 'They see an opportunity to gain some experience they otherwise would not be able to gain that would further them and then jump them way past, hopefully, minimum wage in the future.'
Florida voters approved an increase to the minimum wage in 2020, rising it by $1 each year until it reaches $15 per hour by Oct. 1, 2026. The minimum wage is currently $13 per hour.
'I just don't think that this is going to work,' said Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee. 'We're in a workforce shortage and I don't think paying people less is going to bring more people to the workplace.'
The bill passed through the committee on a 12-4 party line vote, with Democrats opposed. The Senate version of the bill, SB 676, cleared the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee later on Tuesday, also on a party line vote. Each bill has one more committee hearing before heading to their respective chambers for a floor vote.
Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at grohrer@ Follow him on X: @GrayRohrer.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lawmakers push to roll back child labor laws, undercut minimum wage
