Florida Child Labor Bill: Longer Shifts, Meal Breaks, and Curfews

Florida’s HB 49 child labor law took effect on July 1, 2024, and loosened several restrictions on when and how long 16- and 17-year-olds can work, while leaving the rules for younger teens largely in place and rewriting how local juvenile curfews have to be written. The bill amends Chapter 450 of the Florida Statutes and also touches Section 877.25 on municipal curfew ordinances.¹

Longer Shifts on Sundays and Holidays

Before HB 49, no 16- or 17-year-old could work more than eight hours on a day when school was scheduled the next morning. The eight-hour cap still applies to most school nights, but it no longer applies when the workday falls on a Sunday or a holiday, even if school is the next day.² A 17-year-old can now legally work a ten-hour Sunday retail shift heading into a school Monday.

The time-of-day rule stayed the same. When school is scheduled the following day, 16- and 17-year-olds still cannot work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m., and no parental waiver covers those hours.²

Waiving the 30-Hour Weekly Cap

This is the change that matters most to most working families. The 30-hour weekly limit on school-year work for 16- and 17-year-olds used to be firm, waivable only through a full hardship application to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. HB 49 now lets a parent, custodian, or school superintendent (or a superintendent’s designee) sign a DBPR-prescribed waiver form, and the cap comes off for that student.²

The employer keeps the signed form on file. There is no state approval step, no waiting period, and no separate filing with a school district. The superintendent route is an alternative, not an additional requirement. If an employer schedules a 16- or 17-year-old for more than 30 hours during a school week without that signed form on file, the employer is in violation.

The DBPR’s older, general waiver authority under Section 450.095 still exists for situations the parental waiver does not cover, such as the 11:00 p.m. cutoff. That waiver is granted case by case when it is clearly in the best interest of the child.³

Meal Breaks Split by Age

Florida used to guarantee every working minor a 30-minute meal break after four continuous hours of work. HB 49 kept that rule only for workers 15 and younger.⁴

For 16- and 17-year-olds, the mandatory meal break now only kicks in when the shift runs eight hours or longer.² A six-hour Saturday shift no longer carries a state-guaranteed break for that age group. Employers can still offer one, but the mandate is gone below the eight-hour threshold.

Seven Days in a Row Now Allowed for Older Teens

The rule capping minors at six consecutive workdays used to apply to everyone under 18. HB 49 kept it for 15-and-under workers and dropped it for 16- and 17-year-olds, who can now legally work seven days straight under state law.⁴ Federal law does not impose a consecutive-day limit for this age group, so nothing at the federal level fills the gap.

What Didn’t Change for 15-Year-Olds and Younger

HB 49 sharpened the line between age groups by explicitly reassigning several restrictions to workers 15 and under. For that group, the key limits remain:

No more than 18 hours per week when school is in session.
No more than 3 hours on a school day, unless no school is scheduled the following day.
No more than 6 consecutive workdays in any one week.
A 30-minute meal break after every 4 continuous hours of work.

Home-Schooled and Virtual Students

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds enrolled in a home education program or an approved virtual instruction program get substantially more flexibility under HB 49. They may work during hours that would otherwise count as school hours, and most of the scheduling restrictions tied to a fixed school-day schedule do not apply to them.⁴

Working During School Hours

The old path for a minor who wanted to leave school and work during school hours ran through a certificate from the school superintendent. HB 49 replaced that with the existing formal declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment under Section 1003.21. A student who has turned 16 files the declaration with the district school board, signed by both the student and a parent, acknowledging that dropping out is likely to reduce the student’s earning potential.⁵ The school district conducts an exit interview and provides information about adult education and equivalency exam options. The superintendent’s approval is no longer the gating step.

Local Juvenile Curfews Now Have Mandatory Exceptions

The bill’s full title is “Employment and Curfew of Minors,” and the curfew changes are substantive. HB 49 amends Section 877.25 to require every county or municipal juvenile curfew ordinance to include a set of exceptions. Cities and counties can still write curfews stricter or looser than the statewide framework in Sections 877.20 through 877.24, but the ordinance must let minors be out during curfew hours when they are:⁴

Accompanied by a parent or authorized adult.
Traveling to or from lawful employment, or present at a job-required location.
Involved in an emergency, or running an emergency errand with parental permission.
Exercising First Amendment rights, including attending or traveling to a protest or religious service.
Returning home from a school, religious, or civic function.
On or adjacent to their own property, or on a next-door neighbor’s property with permission.
Engaged in interstate or intrastate travel with parental consent.
Attending an event at a theme park or entertainment complex.

A local curfew that lacks these exceptions is out of compliance with state law. In practical terms, a city cannot penalize a 17-year-old walking home from a late restaurant shift.

Hazardous Work Rules Were Not Touched

HB 49 did not change the list of dangerous jobs off-limits to minors. Under Section 450.061, no minor may be employed in sawmills, logging, scaffolding, heavy building trades, or operating motor vehicles (with narrow farm-tractor exceptions), and cleaning, oiling, or repairing machinery remains prohibited.⁶ Federal hazardous occupation orders add further restrictions on top of state law.⁷ Relaxed hour limits do not mean relaxed safety rules.

Federal Law Still Sets the Floor

Where Florida law and the Fair Labor Standards Act both apply, the stricter rule controls.⁸ For 16- and 17-year-olds, federal law does not cap weekly hours or restrict scheduling, so Florida’s newly loosened state rules are the binding standard. Federal minimum ages still apply: 16 for most non-hazardous work, 18 for hazardous occupations.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation investigates child labor complaints and enforces Chapter 450. Violations carry a civil fine of up to $2,500 per offense.⁴ An employer who violates the employment restrictions also commits a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a criminal fine of up to $500 and up to 60 days in jail.⁹ Each day a minor works in violation counts as a separate offense, so a violation stretched across a pay period can produce a stack of charges.

Federal penalties run on their own track. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division can assess civil penalties up to $16,035 per minor for child labor violations, and up to $72,876 when a violation causes death or serious injury, with amounts doubled for willful or repeat offenses.¹⁰ Federal recordkeeping rules also require employers to record the birth date of every employee under 19 and keep payroll records for at least three years.¹¹

1
Florida Senate. House Bill 49 (2024) – Employment
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 450.081 – Hours of Work in Certain Occupations
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 450.095 – Waivers
4
Florida Senate. House Bill 49 Staff Analysis
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 1003.21 – School Attendance
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 450.061 – Employment Restrictions for Minors
7
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 570 – Child Labor Regulations, Orders and Statements of Interpretation
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the FLSA for Nonagricultural Occupations
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 775.083 – Fines
10
eCFR. Part 579 – Child Labor Violations Civil Money Penalties
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 21 – Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA