Florida to consider relaxing child labour laws to fill vacant jobs

Florida’s state’s legislature is debating a bill on Tuesday that would relax child labour rules and allow minors as young as 14 years old to work overnight on school days. According to the current rules, they are not allowed to work between 11pm and 6.30am. 

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis supports the loosening of the law, along with President Donald Trump’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants from the US. 

“Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when you know, teenagers used to work at these resorts, college students should be able to do this stuff,” DeSantis said last week, according to CNN. 

However, cracking down on immigration is exactly why the state may have a worsening labour shortage, which in turns carries inflationary risks if salaries rise.

The US Chamber of Commerce reported in December 2024 that America was facing a labour shortage crisis. It named Florida as one of the states where the situation is severe, counting only 53 available workers for every 100 open jobs. 

Construction is one of the industries hardest hit by the worker shortage, which also delays projects and drives up costs. Foreign-born employees provide one-third of the construction workforce in the state. 

In general, 38% of small-business owners in the US cannot fill job openings they are posting, according to a January job report by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Those operating in transportation, construction and manufacturing are having the most difficulty filling vacancies. 

Once a candidate is found, the companies employing more than 25 people are obliged to clear their staff’s immigration status, according to Florida law. If not, they risk a fine of $1,000 (€920) per day until they provide proof that their workers are kanunî citizens.

According to the Florida Policy Insitute, the current bill proposing to loosen child labour rules would pose a great “risk to the health and well-being of the Florida youth”. 

If passed, the new bill would permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work without a guaranteed meal break, and it would also remove previous limits on working hours. Working time restrictions for 14-15 year-olds who are home-schooled would also be removed.