Florida child labor: two age tiers, both reshaped by HB 49 in 2024.
Florida's child labor law (Fla. Stat. § 450.081) was significantly amended by HB 49, effective July 1, 2024. The amendment loosened restrictions on 16- and 17-year-old workers: removed the 6-consecutive-day cap, removed the mandatory 30-minute break after 4 hours, allowed parent or school superintendent waiver of the 30-hours-per-school-week cap. Workers 14-15 retain the stricter pre-HB-49 rules. Federal FLSA child labor (and Hazardous Occupations) still apply on top. 2025 bills SB 918/HB 1225 attempted further rollback but died in committee.
Child Labor Hour Caps & Break Rules
Enforces 14-15 and 16-17 hour caps, time-of-day windows, and the 14-15 break requirement. Tracks parent/superintendent waivers for 16-17 weekly cap. Federal HO ban on hazardous occupations enforced for under-18.
What those rules do as minors are scheduled.
The hero card configuration: Block on illegal time, Critical on missing waiver, Avoid on cap approach.
When a manager attempts to schedule a 14-15 year-old before 7 AM, after 7 PM (or 9 PM in summer), or on a school day during school hours — or a 16-17 year-old before 6:30 AM or after 11 PM on a school night without parental consent — the publish is blocked.
When a 16-17 year-old approaches the 30-hour school-week cap, Teambridge requires either redistribution of hours or a parent/school superintendent waiver on file. Without the waiver, save fails.
When scheduled hours would push past the age-tier weekly limit (15 school week for 14-15; 30 school week for 16-17), the manager sees a yellow indicator. Save proceeds for 16-17 with waiver; blocked otherwise.
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Two age tiers; HB 49 reshaped the older tier.
The pre-HB-49 Florida child labor rules were among the more protective in the country. The 2024 amendment brought 16-17 closer to federal floor; 14-15 protections remain more or less intact.
14-15 year old rules (largely unchanged)
Workers 14-15 face the most protective rules: 15 hours per school week, 8 hours per non-school day, 40 hours per non-school week, no work before 7 AM or after 7 PM (extended to 9 PM during summer recess June 1 through Labor Day). Workers 14-15 must also have a 30-minute break after 4 continuous hours of work. School attendance requirements continue to constrain scheduling — 14-15 cannot work during school hours. These rules survived HB 49 mostly intact.
16-17 year old rules (loosened by HB 49)
Pre-HB 49: 30 hours per school week cap, 6 consecutive days max, no work before 6:30 AM or after 11 PM on school nights, mandatory 30-minute break after 4 continuous hours. HB 49 changes (effective July 2024): the 6-consecutive-day cap was removed, the 30-minute break requirement was removed, and the 30-hour school-week cap can now be waived by either a parent/custodian or the school superintendent on a DBPR-prescribed form. The 6:30 AM / 11 PM school-night limit and 8-hour-per-school-day cap remain.
Teambridge classifies by age, applies the right tier, gates publish.
Florida's two-tier structure with HB 49's selective loosening means per-worker, per-shift logic gates the scheduling at the source — different rules apply to a 15-year-old vs. a 17-year-old in the same workplace.
14-15 vs. 16-17 set at hire.
Workers under 18 are tagged at hire with their age tier. The tag drives all downstream child-labor logic — different hour caps, different time windows, different break rules.
Day-type, hours, time window all checked.
Every shift created for a minor is validated against the applicable age-tier rules: hour caps, day-type (school day vs. non-school day), time window, summer-vs-school-year detection.
Parent/superintendent forms on file.
If a 16-17 year-old needs to exceed 30 hours in a school week, the parent or superintendent waiver (DBPR-prescribed form) must be on file. Without it, schedule publish fails for over-cap shifts.
Hazardous occupation tags prevent assignment.
Roles tagged as Federal Hazardous Occupations (operating power-driven machinery, slaughtering, demolition, etc.) cannot be assigned to under-18 workers regardless of Florida's age-tier rules.
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