Child Labor – Employers

Employers who hire minors must display a poster in a conspicuous place on the property or place of employment notifying them of the Child Labor Law. Child labor posters may be obtained through this website by accessing by calling Child Labor Compliance at 1.800.226.2536. Other Florida and Federal posting requirements can be obtained through the Agency for Workforce Innovation at www.floridajobs.org/workforce/posters.html.

PROHIBITED OCCUPATIONS

The Florida Child Labor Law, the Florida Rule, and the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) identify many jobs as dangerous to the health and safety of minors. Minors are not permitted to work in these occupations. No minor under 18 years of age, whether such person’s disabilities of non-age have been removed, shall be employed or permitted to work in the hazardous occupations listed below.

The rules governing hazardous equipment are divided into two groups: one for minors aged 14 and 15 and another for all minors. For an extensive survey of these occupations, you may review the Florida Child Labor Law, Section 450.061, Florida Statutes, and the Florida Child Labor Rule 61L-2, Florida Administrative Code. You may also access the Federal Child Labor Hazards listings through the federal web site links. The hazardous occupations are listed below:

Occupations Prohibited for All Minors

• Working in occupations involving explosives or radioactive materials

• Manufacturing brick, tile and like products

• Logging or sawmilling

• Slaughtering, meat packing, processing or rendering of meat

• Mining occupations

• Working on any scaffolding, roofs or ladders above six feet

• Operating power-driven bakery, metal-forming, woodworking, paper product or hoisting machines

• Wrecking, demolition or excavation

• Operating power-driven meat and vegetable slicing machines

• Operating motor vehicles as drivers or delivery drivers, and serving as outside helpers

• Operating circular saws, band saws and guillotine shears

• **Working with electrical apparatus and wiring

• **Working with compressed gases: minors are not allowed to dispense, transport, service, modify, or alter tanks, cylinders, or other equipment used for storing any inert or compound gas, including air, which has been compressed to a pressure that exceeds 40 pounds per square inch (p.s.i.), except that minors who are sixteen (16) years of age or older may fill balloons, and bicycle or car tires (but not truck or heavy

equipment), if given proper instruction and the tank or cylinder containing the compressed gas is fixed and secure

• **Working in occupations involving toxic substances or corrosives, including pesticides or herbicides, unless proper field entry time allowances have been followed.

• **Firefighting

• **Operating or assisting to operate tractors over 20 PTO horsepower, forklifts,

earthmoving equipment, and harvesting, planting, or plowing machinery or any moving machinery

(**) annotates Florida law only

Additional Occupations Prohibited for Minors Aged 14 and 15

• Operating or assisting to operate power-driven machinery, including all power mowers and cutters

• Maintaining or repairing an establishment, machinery or equipment

• Working in freezers or meat coolers

• Operating power driven meat or vegetable slicing machines

• Operating motor vehicles, except for scooters, and in some cases, farm

tractors

• Manufacturing, mining, or processing occupations, including occupations requiring duties to be performed in workrooms or workplaces where goods are manufactured, mined or processed

• Cooking (some exceptions apply) and baking, to include bakery machinery

• Working in all occupations in transportation, warehousing and storage, communications, construction (except clerical), boiler or engine rooms

• Loading and unloading trucks, railroad cars or conveyors

• Working for public messenger services

• Occupations which involve operating, setting up, adjusting, cleaning, oiling, or repairing power-driven food slicing machines and grinders, food choppers and cutters, and bakery-type mixers

• **Handling certain dangerous animals

• **Spray painting

• **Conducting door-to-door sales, except for some non-profit organizations such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, and under close supervision by an adult

(**)Annotates Florida Law Only

Links

Additional websites of interest pertaining to Child Labor.

The United States Department of Labor (U.S. D.O.L.), Division of Wage and Hour, offers assistance to employers and employees with information on understanding the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Federal Child Labor Regulations: Title 29, Part 570 , offers federal limitations for all youth employment.

Federal Child Labor Hazards for 16-18 yr. olds; CFR 29,Chapter V, Part 570, Subpart E , federal hazardous limitations for 16-17 year olds.

Federal Child Labor Employment Hazards for 14-15 yr. olds; CFR 29, Chapter V, Part 570, Subpart C offers federal limitations for 14-15 year olds.

 

Prohibitions for Driving Automobiles and Trucks

No employee under 17 years of age may drive on public roadways as part of his or her job if that employment is subject to the FLSA.

Federal law prohibits driving as an occupation for minors under age 17. Seventeen-year-olds may engage in “incidental and occasional” driving which is interpreted as a maximum of one third of the work time in any work day and no more than 20 percent of the work time in any work week. Delivery jobs and service calls that require driving to customers’ homes are prohibited. Driving is the leading cause of occupational injury and death for workers of all ages. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of occupational deaths among 16 and 17-year-old workers. Motorized equipment (such as forklifts, loaders, and road-pavers) is another leading cause of work-related injury death for 16- and 17-year-olds according to NIOSH. Minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from operating these machines.

Seventeen-year-olds may drive on public roadways as part of their employment, but ONLY if all of the following requirements are met:

• The driving is limited to daylight hours;

• The 17-year-old holds a State license valid for the type of driving involved in the job performed;

• The 17-year-old has successfully completed a State approved driver education course and has no record of any moving violation at the time of hire;

• The automobile or truck is equipped with a seat belt for the driver and any passengers and the employer has instructed the youth that the seat belts must be used when driving the vehicle; and

• The automobile or truck does not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight.

The driving may not involve:

• Towing vehicles;

• Route deliveries or route sales;

• Transportation for hire of property, goods or passengers;

• Urgent, time-sensitive deliveries;

• Transporting more than three passengers, including employees of the employer;

• Driving beyond a 30 mile radius from the youth’s place of employment;

• More than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day to deliver the employer’s goods to a customer;

• More than two trips away from the primary place of employment in any single day to transport passengers, other than employees of the employer; and driving is only occasional and incidental to the 17-year-old’s employment. This means that the youth may spend no more than one-third of the work time in any workday and no more than 20 percent of the work time in any workweek driving.

The above requirements apply whether the youth is driving a personal or employer-owned vehicle. Employers can guard against unwitting violations of the requirements by securing documentation from 17-year-old employees who drive as part of their job. Such documentation would include evidence of the employee’s age, completion of a driver education course, clean driving record and appropriate State driver’s license.

Safety

Each year minors suffer injuries in the workplace. For information that could help reduce injuries, please review our site at Safety Information and visit additional safety sites for more information.

Partial Waivers

The Florida Child Labor Law is designed to serve and protect minors and to encourage them to remain in school. At times, however, some minors feel that the law conflicts with their best interest or that their life circumstances are such that they need to work. Minors have the right to request that the Child Labor Office exempt them from parts of the Child Labor Law. For detailed information on waivers please access Waivers.

For a copy of the Partial Waiver Application and instructions, go to the top of the page and key on “APPLY FOR A LICENSE”.  Double click the “Check here to” box.  This will take you to the Application Center and the Child Labor applications.

Suggestions to Employers Regarding the Waiver Process

Employers can be instrumental in assisting minors in applying for partial waivers of Child Labor Law by following these suggestions:

•Have the application on hand, download the application, or call 800.226.2536 (interstate) or 850.488.3131 for a mailed copy.  You can make as many copies of the application as you like.

• You can assist the minor in completing the application and determining what supportive documentation is necessary. The required supportive documentation is on the instruction sheet (second page).

• You can fax the completed application and the appropriate supportive documentation to this office. Our fax number is 850.487.4928. We can return the completed waiver to you by fax, if you annotate the request on the fax and provide us with the fax number on your cover sheet.

The waiver must be approved before the minor can work the hours authorized by the waiver. Please ensure that the minor receives a copy, as it is his/her waiver. Waivers are valid for either one year or until the minor turns eighteen, whichever comes first. You are also required to keep a copy of the minor’s waiver in your file.

Penalties

Employment of minors in violation of Florida child labor laws may result in fines up to $2,500 per offense and/or be guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor.

Presentations

Employers who have an interest in learning more about Florida’s child labor law may request training by contacting the Bureau of Child Labor at 1.800.226.2536.

Self-Assessment Guide

A self-assessment instrument that allows you to evaluate your compliance efforts with the child labor law and an action plan with self-help corrective measures to bring you into compliance. Please access Employer_Self_Assessment Guide.