Florida Loosens Child Labor Working Hour Restrictions

Implementation Date: July 1, 2024

Effective July 1, 2024, Florida's child labor hours of work and break period requirements are amended to:

  • Allow a 16- or 17-year-old's parent or custodian, or their school superintendent or their designee, to waive the prohibition against working more than 30 hours in any week when school in session;
  • Allow a 16- or 17-year-old to work eight hours in any one day when school is scheduled the following day if the day of work is a Sunday or a holiday;
  • Repeal the prohibition against 16- and 17-year-olds working more than six consecutive days in a week;
  • Require that 16- and 17-year-olds be provided a break period only if they work more than four hours continuously without a break and more than eight hours in a day;
  • Establish an exemption from the hours of work limitations for 16- and 17-year-olds who are in a home education program or are enrolled in an approved virtual instruction program in which the minor is separated from the teacher by time only; and
  • Expand the exemption from the hours of work limitations to minors enrolled in any educational institution (previously, it was limited to public educational institutions).

+Fla. Stat. § 450.081, as amended by +2024 Bill Text FL H.B. 49.