FLORIDA – The rules for teens in the workforce will look different in Florida because of House Bill 49.
The new bill, which went into effect on Monday, allows 16- and 17-year-olds to work 30 hours per week when school is in session. A parent or guardian can waive that limitation.
Melissa Judine is 18 years old and felt like 30 hours was too much for teens to work.
“I’m not really a fan of that. The brain develops more when you’re 25, right? It’s just like for you to be making those hard decisions and your brain isn’t really developed yet,” Judine said.
Stephanie Arroyave, who is 20 years old, said she feels the law is good for teens who want to work as many hours as possible.
“I personally like it,” Arroyave said. “Whenever I was at that age I struggled finding a job that would let me work certain hours. I always wanted more hours to work.”
The law also includes several other changes like getting a 30-minute lunch break after four hours of work if someone is scheduled to work a total of eight hours for the day.
Teens can only be scheduled between 6:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. if they have school the next day. They also can’t work more than eight hours when school is scheduled for the next day with the exception to this rule being Sundays and holidays.
In 2021, 36% of 16- to 19-year-olds had a paying job for at least part of the summer, according to the Pew Research Center.
For Arroyave, lessening restrictions can help with the labor shortage and, also, help teens get more work experience.
“It was hard to find something other than a restaurant job. If I want to work in an office, they require a certain amount of experience already. And obviously, in high school I couldn’t get that much experience due to the lack of hours I was able to work,” Arroyave said.
While some teens want to work as many hours as possible, Judine felt like teens should focus more on succeeding in school instead of working so many hours at a job.
“If you have bigger dreams than the job that you have, I think you should focus on that more, as well as your education,” Judine said.
The changes to the law don’t apply to teens 15 years old or younger. They can’t work more than 15 hours per week when school is in session. The only exception is if the teen faces hardship and gets approval from their district’s superintendent to work longer hours.