Florida House Bill 49: New Work Hours and Rules for Teen Workers

Because of House Bill 49, the laws governing minors employed in Florida will be altered.
When school is in session, 16 and 17-year-olds are permitted to work 30 hours a week under a new bill that comes into force on Monday. A parent or guardian may waive that restriction.

For Melissa Judine, an eighteen-year-old, the prospect of working thirty hours a week seemed excessive for a teen.

“I don’t really like that.” The brain changes more around the age of 25. It’s as if your brain is still developing, and you have to make those difficult judgments,” Judine remarked.
Twenty-year-old Stephanie Arroyave said she thought the regulation was beneficial for young people who wanted to work as many hours as they could.

“For me, I like it,” Arroyave remarked. “I had trouble finding a job at that age that would allow me to work specific hours. I’ve always desired to work longer hours.

The bill also makes a number of additional adjustments, such as requiring workers who are scheduled to work eight hours a day to take a 30-minute lunch break after four hours of work.

Teens can only be booked from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. if they have classes the following day.
Additionally, they are only permitted to work eight hours when classes are in session the following day; Sundays and holidays are the only exemptions to this restriction.

According to the Pew Research Center, 36% of 16 to 19-year-olds in 2021 worked a paid job for at least some of the summer.

Reducing limits can aid in the labor crisis and provide teenagers with additional work experience, according to Arroyave.

“It was difficult to find employment outside of restaurants.” An office job requires a certain level of experience, at least in theory. Furthermore, I was definitely unable to get much experience in high school because of the limited number of hours I was permitted to work, Arroyave added.

While some teenagers desire to work long hours, Judine believed that they should focus more on doing well in school rather than working a lot of overtime at a job.

“I think you should focus on that more, along with your education, if you have bigger dreams than the job that you have,” Judine remarked.

Teens under the age of fifteen are exempt from the new law. During the school year, they are not permitted to work more than fifteen hours a week. The teen may only be exempt if they demonstrate financial need and receive permission from the superintendent of their district to work longer hours.