Latest news with #SenateCommerceandTourismCommittee
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida Legislators Propose New Bill To Let Kids Work Overnight Shifts — & Yes, They're Serious
Child labor laws are under attack in Florida, where legislators think the subject should be a matter of 'parental rights.' The bill (SB 918) would remove restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds who are currently only allowed to work eight hours a day on school nights and a total of 30 hours a week during the school year, unless they are given approval by guardians or school superintendents to work longer. The bill would also remove restrictions for 14- and 15-year-olds who have graduated high school early, are homeschooled, or attend virtual school. More from SheKnows The Best Part-Time Jobs for Moms That Allow You to Make Extra Money But Still Care for Kids Plus, the measure would do away with mandated lunch breaks for older teens. Bill sponsor Rep. Jay Collins told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee argued that most jobs held by teens are in safe places like grocery stores, per CBS News. 'Ultimately, we're not talking about The Jungle by Upton Sinclair,' Collins said, referencing the book that exposed horrific working conditions in the meatpacking industry. 'We're talking about them working at Publix, at Piggly Wiggly, or jobs within the industry.' 'This is a parental rights thing,' he continued, meaning parents should get a say on when their kids clock out. 'Parents know their kids best.' Meanwhile, Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith argued that the bill could allow employers to force young people to work long hours at the risk of being fired. He also questioned the rationale for letting teens as young as 14-year-olds work overnight shifts during the school week. Instead of, ya know, sleeping. 'This bill is going to lead to exploitation of minors, exploitation of children,' he said. Sen. Tracie Davis agreed, and said that if the bill becomes law, teens across the state will face sleep deprivation, academic decline, or feel increased pressure if they are working to help with their family's finances. Davis said there is something 'detrimentally wrong' with the bill that 'takes away basic safeguards' for children. So why are legislators seemingly trying to remove these 'basic safeguards?' Smith suggested it may be to fill employment gaps that are a result of the state's immigration policies. Jobs that were formerly held by undocumented people are now vacant, and during a panel last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis made it sound like Smith was on target. 'Yes, we had people that left because of those rules, but you've also been able to hire other people,' DeSantis said, per Pensacola News Journal. 'And what's wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that's how it used to be when I was growing up.' On March 25, the bill was found 'favorable' by the Commerce and Tourism Committee and now awaits action from the Regulated Industries of SheKnows Brilliant Boy Names You Didn't Know Were Invented by Authors Gorgeous Girl Names You Didn't Know Were Invented by Authors Every Endearing Nickname the Royal Family Has For One Another, From Lou-Bugs to Lottie
CBS News
25-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida Senate panel advances bill to further roll back child labor restrictions
A year after lawmakers relaxed the state's child labor laws, a divided Florida Senate panel on Tuesday gave initial approval to a measure that would further roll back work restrictions for kids as young as 14. The proposal, which builds on the 2024 law, sparked heated debate, with critics of the plan saying it would lead to exploitation of children and proponents calling it a "parental rights" issue. The bill (SB 918) would do away with restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds, who would be able to work more than eight hours a day on school nights and over 30 hours a week while school is in session, without mandated breaks. In addition, the measure aims to remove restrictions for 14- and 15-year-olds who have graduated from high school, are home-schooled or attend virtual school. Bill sponsor Jay Collins, R-Tampa, told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee that the bill would bring Florida into line with federal labor laws. Most of the jobs held by teens are in safe environments such as grocery stores, according to Collins. "Ultimately, we're not talking about 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair. We're talking about them working at Publix, at Piggly Wiggly or jobs within the industry," Collins said, referring to the book that exposed bad working conditions in the meatpacking industry. "This is a parental rights thing. Parents know their kids best." But Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said the bill could allow employers to force young people to work long hours or risk being fired. Smith suggested the changes are being floated to help fill employment gaps triggered by the state's crackdown on illegal immigration. Smith also questioned the rationale for allowing children as young as 14 to work overnight hours on a school night if they are home-schooled or enrolled in virtual school. "This bill is going to lead to exploitation of minors, exploitation of children," Smith argued. Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, reiterated comments from various young people who spoke against the proposal and outlined potential problems if the bill becomes law, such as sleep deprivation, academic decline or increased pressure on students who are working to help their families financially. The bill "takes away basic safeguards" for children, Davis said. "There is something detrimentally wrong with what we're doing here in this legislation," she added. The Legislature last year passed a law that maintained a 30-hour work week limit for 16- and 17-year-olds when school is in session, but it allowed parents, guardians or school superintendents to waive the 30-hour limit.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
All work restrictions would be lifted on 16- and 17-year-olds in Florida under new bill
Only a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature loosened Florida's child labor restrictions amid a tight job market, lawmakers now are advancing a measure that would remove all work limits on 16- and 17-year-olds. While these kids could work unlimited hours and days without breaks during the school year, the legislation (SB 918) would even allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work without restrictions if they either graduated high school or are home- or virtual-school students. It also removes prohibitions on kids working on school days earlier than 6:30 a.m. or later than 11 p.m. 'This is a parental rights issue,' Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Tuesday. Collins dismissed critics who likened his bill as a return to an earlier epoch of child labor exploitation: 'Frankly, we're not talking 'The Jungle' by Upton Sinclair. We're talking about them working at Publix and Piggly Wiggly.' Still, others warned that exploitation of young workers is certain to follow if lawmakers ditch even the relaxed standards approved last year, which allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to work more than 30 hours during school weeks, with parental permission. 'We warned this was just the beginning, that this was a slippery slope, and here we are again,' said Jackson Oberlink, with Florida For All, a justice advocacy organization. 'We're facing another attempt to strip away basic safeguards for Florida's children, all to appease corporate interests looking for cheap labor.' Collins portrayed expanding work opportunities for teens as a chance for them to not only help their families but also build character that will serve them in future academics, work and life experience. DeSantis, though, may have fueled criticism of the legislation last week during a roundtable in Sarasota with President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan. DeSantis acknowledged that efforts the state and White House are engaged in to remove undocumented immigrants may have reduced the workforce for lower-wage jobs. But the governor pointed to young workers as potential replacements. What else at Capitol? Florida's GOP-led Legislature aims to limit the power of city, county governments Last year's first step... Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill to allow Florida teens to work more hours a week 'Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts. College students should be able to do this stuff,' he said. DeSantis said the state requiring larger employers to verify workers' immigration status has reduced available labor. 'Yes, we had people that left because of those rules, but you've also been able to hire other people. And what's wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? I mean, that's how it used to be when I was growing up,' DeSantis said. Collins' bill, however, may face tough odds. A similar House bill (HB 1225) hasn't moved. And while Collins' proposal cleared the Senate committee on a 5-4 vote, at least two of his fellow Republican supporters said they remained uneasy about the approach. Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, a former state GOP chair, voted against the legislation. 'I think this sends a bad message,' Gruters said. 'I think we should allow kids to work the hours they're allowed now with the (parent) waiver system, and that's it.' Collins' bill is like what Florida lawmakers began working with last year, until the compromise measure involving limited hours and parental permission emerged and was eventually approved. It reflects a nationwide push by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples-based conservative research and lobbying organization financed by a constellation of right-wing groups. The Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, led by the billionaire founder of a Wisconsin-based shipping company, is a big donor to FGA and supports the child labor bill along with anti-union and deregulation efforts across the country. Dick Uihlein, who leads the foundation named for his father, was a big donor to DeSantis, particularly during his failed presidential campaign. The Florida Policy Institute, which opposes the legislation, said there are more than 80,000 16- and 17-year-olds already employed in Florida, with most juggling work and school. FPI said that lifting the current limits will force teen-agers to accept hours their bosses schedule them, even if it puts their academics at risk. Citing the most recent U.S. Labor Department statistics, FPI reported that in 2023, there were 209 child labor violations in Florida, the second highest level in 15 years. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@ or on X at @JKennedyReport. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida teens would have work limits lifted under new legislation
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alternative to noncompete agreements under consideration by Legislature
(Stock photo by Catherine McQueen via Getty Images) Although a number of states have passed legislation empowering workers by barring companies from binding them with noncompete agreements, the Florida Legislature is looking at an alternative known as 'garden leave agreements.' A bill (SB 922) proposed by Ormond Beach Republican Tom Leek would establish the framework for these arrangements, through which an employee typically is relieved of duty yet technically remains employed and therefore cannot go to work for a competitor. They are free to tend their gardens, as it were, while retaining pay and benefits. The bill states that these agreements would require advance notice of up to, but no more than, four years before terminating the employment or contractor relationship. The law would only apply to employees most likely to have access to sensitive information, Leek said, as well as to those who make at least twice the annual mean wage of employees in Florida, plus workers party to confidential employer information. Leek, a labor-and-employment attorney, told the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee on Monday that it was important to distinguish between noncompete agreements, which restrict former employees from certain activities, and a garden leave agreement, whereby the employee keeps the job but provides no services to that employer. Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis noted that most noncompete agreements last between one and two years. Why should the state allow garden leave agreements of up to four years? Leek referenced the moves made by the Federal Trade Commission last year to adopt a comprehensive ban on new noncompetes with all workers, including senior executives (the ban was overturned by a federal judge in Texas last August). 'Florida is poised to become one of the finance capitals of the world,' Leek said. 'And if we want to attract those kinds of clean, high-paying jobs, you have to provide those businesses protection on the investment that they're making and their employees.' Orange County Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith noted that noncompete contracts are falling widely into disfavor. As of last fall, four states banned them and 33 restricted their use, according to the Economic Innovation Group. 'Are we not disincentivizing them coming to Florida because, unlike other states, we have strengthened the ability for employers to require noncompete rather than rolling them back like other states,' Smith said. Leek said he didn't believe that was the case. In his own practice, 'I don't see a current trend dialing back restrictive covenants. I saw the federal government try it, and it failed and it didn't happen.' John Navarra was the only member of the public to address the committee. He said he opposes the bill because he fears that while the measure is currently aimed only at employees who have sensitive information, it could spread to additional workers. He mentioned that he has worked as a grocery clerk at a Winn-Dixie. 'What happened if I lost my job at Winn-Dixie and I went to Publix, and I said, 'Please give me a job so that I can put milk on the shelf, something as simple as that, and Publix could not hire me. It's an outrage that the state of Florida would try to keep working people down by limiting their opportunities,' he said. While businesses highly favor noncompete contracts, polls have shown that the majority of Americans don't like them. An IPSOS public opinion survey conducted last May found that 59% of Americans supported the FTC's proposal to ban such agreements. The measure passed on a party-line 6-3 vote, with all Republicans in support and all Democrats dissenting. A House companion has been filed by Tampa Bay area Republican Traci Koster (HB 1219). SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
