TALLAHASSEE—Children as young as 13 could enter the Florida workforce after a sweeping bill loosening child labor laws cleared its first hurdle on Tuesday.
This provision, tacked onto Republican Rep. Monique Miller’s HB 1225 late yesterday, was personally requested by Congressman-elect Randy Fine and his wife to allow their 13-year-old son to work over the summer, Miller said. Miller represents Fine’s old state House seat.
Her bill would allow some teenagers to work longer than 8 hours without a meal break and some 13-year-olds to work during the summer if they have a birthday before the year ends. It comes as Florida suffers its second-highest child labor violations in the past 15 years.
But Miller, a freshman lawmaker representing Palm Bay, argued her bill is designed to teach children life skills, expand their career opportunities, and start to align Florida with federal labor laws.
“Due to the resurgence of apprenticeships, we want to reduce barriers to teenagers learning their trade and preparing for their career,” said Miller in Tuesday’s House Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee.
Under the bill, all 16-year-olds could work without a break after working for eight hours, even when school is in session. This would also apply to 14-year-olds enrolled in virtual school or possessing a high school diploma. It differs from the Senate version, filed by Republican Sen. Jay Collins, by preventing teens from working overnight and allowing 13-year-olds to work over the summer if they turn 14 before the end of the year.
“[Fine’s] wife called and said, ‘Our son, who’s a mature and very wonderful young man, David Fine, wants to be able to work in the summers,’” Miller said, explaining how the bill’s amendment came about. “And it makes perfect sense, but unfortunately, his birthday is late in the year, and so their request was, is it possible to let teenagers who are going to be 14 that year not miss out on their summer to work?”
Fine resigned his state Senate seat on Monday to pursue Congressional District 6. The special general election is today, though Fine, endorsed by Trump, is expected to win.
While the bill says it follows federal labor law, which only allows 13-year-olds to work in the agricultural field with parental permission outside school hours, Miller claimed these children can work non-agricultural jobs for 18 hours a week during the school year.
The measure comes off Florida’s second-highest number of child labor violations since 2008. The latest full-year data available is from 2023, which reveals that the Sunshine State had 209 child labor violations. According to the Florida Policy Institute, these violations involved scheduling over 118 teens past legal work hours and incurring around $250,000 in fines.
Democrats raised these concerns on Tuesday.
“We’re lessening the age and lowering the standard for child labor laws,” said Rep. Angie Nixon, from Jacksonville. “The unintended consequence could potentially be the exploitation of our children.”
Despite worries from the left, HB 1125 passed the committee with a 12 to 6 vote. Republican Rep. Susan Valdes, a Democrat until earlier this year, was the only conservative “no” vote.
