Florida child labor laws limit how many hours workers under 18 can put in, when they can be on the clock, and what kinds of jobs they can hold. The rules sit in Chapter 450 of the Florida Statutes, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) enforces them. House Bill 49, which took effect in 2024, loosened several restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds while keeping tighter protections in place for younger teens.
Who Counts as a Minor
The chapter defines a minor as anyone 17 or younger, but several groups are treated as adults for employment purposes. You are not a minor under the law if you have been married, if a court has removed your disability of nonage, if you have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, if a court has specifically approved your employment, or if you have graduated from an accredited high school or earned a high school equivalency diploma.1The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 450.012 – Definitions If any of those apply, the hour caps, shift limits, and job bans below do not restrict you.
Minimum Age to Work
Florida generally allows employment starting at 14. Younger children may work only in a few narrow settings: as pages in the Florida Legislature, in the entertainment industry with a permit, or doing domestic or farm tasks tied to their own home or the farm where they live. Children of any age can also work directly for a parent or guardian.
Hours and Shift Limits by Age
Florida sorts its hour rules into two age brackets, and House Bill 49 widened the gap between them in 2024. The limits below apply during the regular school year unless a waiver or exemption covers the worker.
Ages 14 and 15
During the school year, 14- and 15-year-olds can work up to 15 hours per week and no more than three hours on a school day.2Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida Child Labor General FAQs They cannot start before 7:00 a.m. or work past 7:00 p.m. on nights before a school day.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 450.081 – Hours of Work in Certain Occupations Work during school hours is off-limits unless the minor is enrolled in a career education program.
During summer vacation and holidays, the cap rises to eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, and the evening cutoff moves to 9:00 p.m. Workers in this bracket are also limited to six consecutive workdays in a single week and must get a 30-minute meal break after every four continuous hours of work.
Ages 16 and 17
Older teens have far more flexibility. A 16- or 17-year-old can work up to eight hours on a day before a school day and up to 30 hours per week when school is in session. A parent, custodian, or school superintendent can waive the 30-hour weekly cap by completing a department-prescribed form and giving it to the employer. Without that waiver, 30 hours is the ceiling.
On nights before a school day, work has to fall between 6:30 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. When school is not in session, no state time-of-day limit applies. The six-consecutive-day rule and the four-hour meal break requirement no longer apply to this age group, with one exception: anyone working eight hours or more in a single day still gets a 30-minute meal break after four continuous hours. Work during school hours on school days remains off-limits unless the minor is enrolled in a career education program.
Jobs Minors Cannot Hold
Some occupations are banned regardless of parental consent or any waiver. The younger bracket faces more restrictions, but even 17-year-olds are shut out of the most dangerous work.
Off-Limits for Anyone Under 18
No one under 18 may work around explosives or radioactive materials, in logging or sawmill operations, in mining, or while operating heavy equipment such as forklifts, trenchers, or tractors over 20 PTO horsepower.4Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.061 – Hazardous Occupations Prohibited; Exemptions Scaffolding, roofing, and ladder work above six feet are also prohibited for all minors.5Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Child Labor – Prohibited Occupations The DBPR can add to this list, so it may expand over time.
Additional Bans for Ages 14 and 15
On top of the rules above, 14- and 15-year-olds cannot work with power-driven machinery, in manufacturing or processing operations involving flammable substances, in boiler or engine rooms, or in warehousing, construction, or transportation roles beyond clerical tasks. Most retail, food-service, and office jobs are fine; anything with industrial equipment or physically risky conditions is not.
Driving for Work
Federal law layers on top of Florida’s rules for anyone driving on the job. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2, no one under 17 may drive on public roads as part of a job. Seventeen-year-olds may drive for work only under narrow conditions: daylight hours only, a valid state license, a completed driver education course, no moving violations, a vehicle under 6,000 pounds, and driving that takes up no more than one-third of the workday or 20 percent of weekly work time.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 34 – Hazardous Occupations Order No. 2, Youth Employment Provision and Driving Automobiles and Trucks Under the FLSA Route deliveries, time-sensitive runs like pizza delivery, and transporting more than three passengers are prohibited even for 17-year-olds who otherwise qualify.
Entertainment Industry Work
Minors of any age can work in the entertainment industry — film, television, theater, music, photography, circuses, and rodeos — as long as the work is not hazardous or harmful to their health, education, or welfare.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 450.132 – Employment of Children by the Entertainment Industry; Rules; Procedures The employer, not the minor, must get a Permit to Hire from the DBPR before work begins. Rehearsals, dance practice, and similar preparation count as work hours when tied to a specific production. If an employer places a minor in dangerous conditions, the permit is automatically revoked and the responsible person faces criminal charges.
Waivers and Exemptions
Several categories of minors are fully exempt from the hour caps, time-of-day limits, and consecutive-day rules:
- High school graduates or GED holders aged 16 or 17.
- Minors with a certificate of exemption from the school superintendent under Florida’s compulsory attendance statute.
- Minors enrolled in school who face economic necessity or a family emergency, once the superintendent issues a written hardship waiver.
- Home-educated or virtual-school students aged 16 or 17 in a program where the student is separated from the teacher by time only.
- Domestic service workers, minors employed by their own parents, and pages in the Florida Legislature.
These exemptions come from Section 450.081(5). Minors in approved career education or apprenticeship programs can also perform otherwise-restricted tasks when the work is an integral part of the coursework and stays within the hazardous-occupation rules.
Beyond the categorical exemptions, the DBPR (or a school district designee for public school students) can grant a partial waiver on a case-by-case basis when doing so clearly serves the child’s best interest.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.095 – Waivers The administrative rule recognizes three common grounds: a change in school status, financial hardship affecting the minor or their immediate family, and other hardship that would make normal limits unreasonable.9Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 61L-2.007 – Partial Waivers Applicants file Form DBPR FCL 1002 with supporting documents, and an approved waiver has to be kept in the employer’s records.
Minimum Wage
Florida’s minimum wage reached $15.00 per hour in 2026 under the phase-in schedule voters approved through Amendment 2 in 2020. There is no separate youth subminimum wage in Florida, so employers pay minors the same hourly rate as adults. Federal law lets employers pay workers under 20 as little as $4.25 per hour during their first 90 calendar days on the job, but that federal floor does not apply in Florida because the higher state wage controls.10U.S. Department of Labor. Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
Employer Record-Keeping
Every employer hiring a minor must obtain and keep proof of the worker’s age for the whole duration of employment. Four forms of documentation are accepted: a photocopy of a birth certificate, a photocopy of a driver’s license, an age certificate issued by the local district school board, or a photocopy of a passport or visa showing the date of birth. These records have to be available for inspection whenever state officials visit. Employers must also post a child labor law notice in a spot where all employees can read it, such as a break room or near a time clock. The DBPR provides the poster at no cost.11Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.045 – Proof of Identity and Age; Posting of Notices
Penalties
Enforcement runs on two tracks. On the civil side, the DBPR can impose fines of up to $2,500 per offense against any employer who hires a minor in violation of the law or its rules. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, and each unlawfully employed minor creates a separate offense.12Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.141 – Employing Minor Children in Violation of Law; Penalties Before assessing a fine, the DBPR has to send written notice naming the specific provision violated and giving the employer a deadline to fix the problem. Fines apply only if the employer fails to correct the issue within that window.
Criminally, a violation is a second-degree misdemeanor, carrying a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time.13The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 775.083 – Fines Obstructing an inspection triggers the same penalties.
Reporting a Violation
Anyone who believes an employer is breaking Florida’s child labor rules can contact the DBPR’s Child Labor Program through the agency’s website.14Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Child Labor – MyFloridaLicense.com For violations that also implicate federal law, such as hazardous-occupation bans under the FLSA, complaints go to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243. The federal process is confidential, and employers are prohibited from retaliating against anyone who files a complaint or cooperates with an investigation.15U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint