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* Yesterday, Governor Pritzker beefed up Illinois’ child labor regulations. Tribune…
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed into law a measure that updates Illinois’ child labor regulations by setting additional standards for working conditions for children 15 or younger and updating a list of jobs that minors cannot hold.
The changes come as President Joe Biden’s administration and some states in recent years have moved to strengthen enforcement of child labor laws while other states — including neighboring Iowa — have sought to weaken their laws. […]
The state’s child labor regulations have long required school officials to review a minor’s work opportunity and, with the permission of a parent or guardian, issue an employment certificate to the minor before they can lawfully work, according to the governor’s office.
The new law prohibits minors from working more than 18 hours per school week and over 40 hours during weeks when school is out. Previously, the standards were 24 hours during school weeks and 48 hours when school was out. The updated list of prohibited workplaces includes cannabis dispensaries, live adult entertainment businesses, gambling establishments and gun ranges.
* So, what’s going on in Iowa? CNN last year…
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill Friday that loosens child labor laws by extending the hours that teens can work and the establishments where they can be employed. […]
Under the newly signed law, 14- and 15-year-olds are allowed to work two additional hours per day when school is in session, from four to six hours. They are also able to work until 9 p.m. during most of the year and until 11 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day, two hours later than previously allowed. Sixteen- and 17-year-olds are now permitted to work the same hours as an adult.
The law also allows teens as young as 16 to serve alcohol in restaurants during the hours food is being served if their employer has written permission from their parent or guardian. It also requires that two adults be present while the teen serves alcohol and for the teen to complete “training on prevention and response to sexual harassment.”
Among the expanded employment opportunities outlined under the new law, 14- and 15-year-olds would be able to do certain types of work in industrial laundry services and in freezers and meat coolers – areas that were previously prohibited.
The law also gives authority to the directors of the education and workforce development departments to provide an exception to the work hours and some of the prohibited work activities to teens 16 and older who are enrolled in a qualified work-based learning program.
* Last week from Iowa Capital Dispatch…
Michelle Cox was in disbelief when a U.S. Department of Labor official told her earlier this year she was violating federal law by employing 14- and 15-year-olds past 7 p.m. on school nights.
Cox, the owner of a Subway franchise in Maquoketa, Iowa, knew the state Legislature had made substantial changes to state labor laws in 2023 to allow younger teens to work later on weekdays.
The problem, as critics of last year’s proposed bill pointed out during the legislative debate: Iowa’s new regulations directly conflicted with federal standards. And employers must follow the strictest standards, whether they be state or federal.
Cox said she fixed the problem the day the feds informed her, eliminating later work shifts for her youngest employees. But she said she still faced a $73,000 federal fine.
“I kept telling him I wasn’t trying to break the law,” she said. “I honestly thought I was following the law.”
* Here is a side-by-side from Des Moines Register…
State law: Iowa expanded the time children between 14 and 15 years old can work to as late as 9 p.m. on school days. During the summer months between June 1 until Labor Day, children may work until 11 p.m. This is two hours later than the federal standard.
Federal law: Child labor is limited by the time of day and number of hours worked for 14-and 15-years-old, according to the federal youth employment provisions. Work for 14-and 15-year-olds can extend between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year. Starting June 1 through Labor Day, children can work until 9 p.m. […]
State law: Iowa’s recent child labor laws allowed children as young as 14 years old to work up to six hours on school days. They are limited to a 28 hour work week during the school year. Children from 16 to 17 years old may work the same number of hours per day as adults.
Federal law: Children between 14 and 15 years old can not work more than three hours on school days including Fridays. They also can’t work more than 18 hours a week when school is in session. When it is not a school day, 14- and 15-year-olds can not work more than eight hours. Their weekly work hours can not exceed 40 when school is out of session. The federal youth employment provision does not restrict the number of weekly hours or times of day children 16 years and older work.
* More…
* The Gazette | Feds fine North Liberty restaurant after state child labor law conflicts with U.S. rules: A North Liberty restaurant is among several in Iowa facing steep fines of $50,000 up to $180,000 from the federal government for following a new state law loosening work requirements for teens that conflicts with federal child labor regulations. […] The Iowa Restaurant Association heralded it as a “legislative win” for its members. Now, it’s warning members to revert to following the stricter federal regulations for workers under 16 as federal regulators have levied hefty fines on establishments.
* WaPo | America is divided over major efforts to rewrite child labor laws: Labor experts attribute the spike in child labor violations — which, a Post analysis shows, have tripled in 10 years — to a tight labor market that has prompted employers to hire more teens, as well as migrant children arriving from Latin America. In 2023, teens ages 16 to 19 were working or looking for work at the highest annual rate since 2009, according to Labor Department data. That has led to the largest effort in years to change the patchwork of state laws that regulate child labor, with major implications for the country’s youths and the labor market. At least 16 states have one or more bills that would weaken their child labor laws and at least 13 are seeking to strengthen them, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute and other sources. Among these states, there are 43 bill proposals.
* Governing | What’s Driving the Changes to Child Labor Laws?: Last week, the Kentucky House passed a bill that would abolish the state’s child labor laws, in effect replacing them with looser federal standards. The bill would also increase the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds can work on school days from six to eight. They’d be able to work up to 30 hours per week during the school year, or even more if their parents approve and they maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average. Several Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats in opposition, including GOP Whip Jason Nemes, but the bill passed easily. “Our current statutes and regulations unnecessarily restrict the number of hours needed to work, often preventing them from seeking an opportunity to help them pay for college, learn new skills and prepare for the future,” said bill sponsor Phillip Pratt, who owns a landscaping and lawn care company.
* AFL-CIO | Service & Solidarity Spotlight: Wisconsin Gov. Evers Protects Child Labor Law with Senate Bill 436 Veto: Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers delivered remarks Monday at the Wisconsin State Council of Machinists’ 2024 spring conference in Madison and vetoed S.B. 436, which would have eliminated the requirement that employers obtain a work permit in order to employ 14- or 15-year-olds. The work permit process keeps young workers safer at work through parental oversight and gives critical information about where kids work and what jobs they’re doing to Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development, so it can better enforce child labor laws. In 2017, then-Gov. Scott Walker, a national disgrace, signed a bill passed by fellow Republicans in the state Legislature that eliminated the work permit requirements for 16- and 17-year-olds. The bill Evers vetoed would have expanded and built on this exemption.
* WVIK | Center for American Progress says Project 2025 will hurt child labor protections: Senior Director for Workforce Development Policy Veronica Goodman at the Center for American Progress says corporate influence in Republican states is weakening child labor protections. “So what we’ve seen is that it’s really a result of sustained lobbying from certain industries like restaurants or hospitality, companies that view working minors as an opportunity for cheap labor to boost profits,” Goodman said in a phone interview with WVIK on July 24th.
* New Republic | Louisiana Republicans Love Child Labor, Hate Lunch Breaks: Nobody expects to find good government in what A.J. Liebling famously termed “the GRET Stet of Loosiana,” but it surprised me to learn that the Louisiana state legislature, or its lower chamber at any rate, recently weighed in against eating. Eating is a sort of religion in Louisiana, land of gumbo and shrimp etouffee. But the state House of Representatives last week voted 61-37 to repeal a law requiring employers to provide a 20-minute meal break to any minor who works more than five hours, or pay a $500 penalty.
* Kentucky Lantern | House GOP approve bill loosening Kentucky child labor law: House Bill 255, sponsored by Rep. Phillip Pratt, R-Georgetown, repeals Kentucky’s existing child labor laws and aligns them with federal laws, which are less restrictive for minors aged 16 and 17. Kentucky law currently limits the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds can work on a school day to six. The limit increases to eight hours on a non-school day and up to 30 hours total during a school week, unless they receive parental permission to work more and maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average. Federal law doesn’t have any daily or weekly hour work limits for ages 16 and 17.
* Missouri Independent | After a century, states are loosening child labor laws. Where’s the outrage?: Arkansas, for example, in March did away with the requirement that the state’s Division of Labor had to give permission or verify the age of children under 16 to be employed. Although those under 14 still cannot be employed, the ending of age verification requirements is an invitation to child labor abuses. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in signing the new law, said the change was about removing an “arbitrary burden on parents” that required state permission for their children to work. But let’s get real. This isn’t about the rights of parents, it’s about helping businesses cope with the labor shortages in the wake of the pandemic. If you visited any fast food restaurant in the last three years, you’ve probably experienced worse service than in the past and seen the “help wanted’ and hiring bonus signs.
* LA Times | Opinion: Our failed immigration policy is causing a child labor epidemic in the U.S.: The U.S. government’s failure to pass significant immigration reform since 1986 is one reason children end up as workers. U.S. policies haven’t kept pace with the high rates of displacement from migrants’ countries of origin, nor our need for workers. Without pathways for legal migration, many families, individual adults and unaccompanied children have little choice but to migrate without authorization and remain so long term; 2019 data indicate that 62% of undocumented migrants have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years.
* NPR | Amid a child labor crisis, U.S. state governments are loosening regulations:[New York Times investigative journalist Hannah Dreier] estimates that some 250,000 children have crossed into the U.S. without their parents in the last two years, and that the majority of them wind up working full-time jobs. “These are jobs working for household brands like Cheerios, Cheetos, Ford,” she says. “These are jobs that used to go to undocumented immigrants. Now they go to undocumented child migrants.”
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 8:30 am
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— But she said she still faced a $73,000 federal fine. –
unreal.
Comment by Anthony Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 8:33 am
Seems like Iowa business groups failed their members by not flagging this conflict before it passed and by not communicating the problem to their members before they faced fines.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 8:52 am
Iowa didn’t understand the supremacy of federal laws/rules in this case.
Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:06 am
As a farm kid. I have been working on farms since about eight years old. Whether it was bailing or raking hay. To the fall helping during harvest. It really installs a good work ethic later in life. I laugh when people cobble together different forms of leave to take a day off. We have our 13 year old babysitting at a friends house over the past few summers. The kids parent works from home so she’s there to watch them. She also works on a horse farm on Mondays with the same family. She has learned about work ethic and how to save money to buy things I wouldn’t buy for her like a cell phone. It feels like this type of parenting is lacking in todays society.
Comment by Hard working mam Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:19 am
Demoralizes, SCOTUS will fix it.
Comment by very old soil Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:21 am
=== But she said she still faced a $73,000 federal fine. ===
Bill the Iowa MAGA GOP for passing legislation they knew ran contrary to Federal law.
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:26 am
– Iowa didn’t understand the supremacy of federal laws/rules in this case. –
I’m confident the Iowa law is designed to challenge the Federal one, and this SCOTUS will likely side against the Federal law, because states’ rights matter when protecting capital (but not when protecting individuals).
Comment by thunderspirit Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:29 am
Iowa has a problem with too little labor available. I have noticed near the IL border that a great many workers are now preferring work across the border if they can get it as IL $14 minimum is a bit more attractive than Iowa’s $7.25. Added to that that there are a lot of retired people who simply no longer do paid work. Which means for help restaurant signs stay up for a bit until they’re filled.
The other incentive may come out of a better space, that our system has been based on the idea that everyone should go to college, but of course everyone doesnt and there needs to be something for those who don’t. I don’t think letting employers exploit them in dead-end jobs is the answer though, but better voc training is a good step.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:30 am
I’d suggest the Iowa Restaurant Assocation fire their current counsel and get themselves some lawyers who know the law. If I was an IRA member, I might be asking for a refund on my annual membership dues.
Comment by Former Philadelphian Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:34 am
The urge to submit to any wish expressed by employers should be astonishing, but sadly it’s not. The concept of protecting workers, especially child workers, used to be taken for granted. Now it’s seen as anti-business.
What legitimate business can’t afford to give a young person a 20 minute lunch break?
I find the whole thing depressing.
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:37 am
Don’t grown people need jobs?? What’s all the rush to get kids in the work place (for adult hours / responsibility) - seems weird
Comment by hmmm Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:37 am
“I kept telling him I wasn’t trying to break the law,” she said. “I honestly thought I was following the law.”
If she failed to consult with an attorney at any point in her ownership of the business, I don’t see how this is anyone’s fault but hers.
That’s even overlooking the obvious requirement from the Iowa Department of Labor which *requires* the posting of labor laws at every business where employees are able to read them, including federal labor laws. I looked at the required postings required in Iowa, and it very clearly states there are restrictions on child labor, including hours worked. It does not specify the hourly limits on the poster, but that’s where her consulting an attorney comes into the picture - which is something obviously not done.
Which leaves an important question - Which law did she think she was following?
Or is it more likely she thinks of herself as a ‘good person’, and therefore everything she does would be considered following the law.
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:39 am
Much of the right doesn’t appear to see children as humans with agency or inherent worth. They see children either property of parents or assets to be exploited. (Though to be fair, for right wing business folks, they see ALL people as assets to be exploited, so at least there is some consistency there)
Comment by Homebody Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:44 am
Hard working Mam-
My kids learned a hard work ethic right here in Illinois…and their employers did not have to violate federal labor laws to do it.
Enough already with the “back in my day” garbage.
As far as giving teens legal access to alcohol. Have all the adults you want on staff; teenagers will find a way to imbibe/give to their buddies.
Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:47 am
== It feels like this type of parenting is lacking in todays society.==
Doing work around the family farm (where the parents have more than a vested interest) differs from working for someone else in a more industrial setting.
I am not sure how a 6-hour workday on a school day is helpful to a 14-year-old being able to pull off school successfully as well. Depending on their birthdate, you are talking about 8th grade here, perhaps even 7th grade. If you have a 7th grader working 6 hours a day you might was well just admit you are giving up on them getting an education.
From a public safety standpoint you want a 16 year old trying to make the decision if someone has been overserved, that seems like an unsessary risk. I am sure Dram Shop insurance underwriters are going to love that.
It will be interesting when the lawsuit includes mom and dad because the server was a minor.
Sixteen seems like a reasonable cutoff age, I could see a little more flexibility on how late someone can work when schools out. But having a 14 year old work 6 hours on a school day, that is about cheap labor, let us not kid ourselves.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 9:51 am
Hard working mam- I also grew up as the oldest daughter of a crop farmer. I spent weekends helping out on the farm, helping my mom and grandma feed the family during harvest season and helping out with my younger cousins all year. I also didn’t have to work during the school year and worked for $8 an hour during the summer once I turned 16. I would argue that I have a great work ethic because I saw my parents’ work ethic and their frequent volunteering in the community. Not once did I have to violate federal law to learn this work ethic. Parents wanting their children to be safe at a job and to get a proper education does not mean that today’s society is “lacking” in good parents.
Comment by Wisco Expat Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:00 am
–Enough already with the “back in my day” garbage.–
People have different perspectives, sir. Learn to respect other peoples viewpoints. He expressed a viewpoint that worked well for his family, and you expressed a different viewpoint that worked for your family. Good for both of you, but there is no need to throw shots.
Comment by Anthony Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:07 am
The right to lifers need that pipeline to staff the child labor in hazardous work conditions.
Comment by Huh? Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:15 am
Re: Anthony
The “back in my day garbage” comes with a strong implication that the way it was done back then is the only right way to do things.
Comment by The Dude Abides Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:16 am
Re: The dude abides
And he is entitled to that opinion. The hard work decades ago has afforded a great life for many in this country current day. Similar to re: Flyin Elvis experience about their hard work today, which will contribute to a better society for future generations.
Comment by Anthony Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:19 am
The GOP: protect children by not letting them learn about true American history or about different genders and sexualities.
Also the GOP: exploit children for cheap labor.
Comment by Proud Papa Bear Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:32 am
I see two conflicting messages here on new child labor laws. First is limits as to the hours worked and they can’t work past 7:00 p.m. on school days. Second is too many teens are getting into trouble on the streets and if they only had a job the chances of getting into trouble would be reduced. I am sure those contradictions have been argued and studied to death.
I don’t have a direct answer here other than I feel that this argument will continue.
Comment by Louis G Atsaves Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:34 am
Anthony-
Need a tissue? No, I don’t have to respect another’s opinion. Acknowledge they have a right to one, sure. But not respect it. You respect everything that comes out of 45’s mouth?
I was commenting on how this opinion that everything was better in some other era, in this case before many federal labor laws were enacted, is ludicrous. Why do you think these laws were introduced? Grits and shins?
Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:35 am
Anthony, nobody appointed you constable.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:41 am
I started working for Mcdonalds as a junior in high school. $2.15 per hour in the 60s. I typically worked 30 hours or a bit more per week during the school year. My geometry teacher asked how many hours I worked. I told him. I also proudly told him I bought my own clothes (extras).
I was involved in zero school clubs, and graduated almost exactly in the middle of my class. On the plus side, my first car was a 1966 mustang fastback. And I had a ski boat in high school.
My friends also drove hot cars.
It was definitely too much. I’m happy to see my grand nieces and grand nephews not working during the school year.
Comment by Langhorne Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 10:56 am
I honestly don’t get why there hasn’t been a push to ratify the 1924 Child Labor Amendment. It doesn’t have a sunset clause like the EPA did, so it could be like the new 27th passed many, many, many years after passing congress as there is no window on when the ratifications needed to be done by.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Labor_Amendment
“Only” needs ten additional states to ratify it, and I’d like to think that Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, and Maryland would be an easy eight, so you’d just need to convince Virginia and one more state to ratify and we have a new 28th amendment empowering the feds to ban child labor.
Comment by TJ Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 11:00 am
Like the ERA did, I meant. Man, I need to proof what I write…
Comment by TJ Wednesday, Jul 31, 24 @ 11:01 am