General Discussion

There are limits on the hours you can have a 16 year old work, but it is not remotely illegal. A Spa attendant job was probably the very definition of unskilled labor. It probably consisted mostly of answering the phones and cleaning the spa rooms. I'm sure they were paid minimum wage as well.

Here's Florida's child labor laws:

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.

Employers are required to keep waiver authorizations, proof of age documentation, and proof of exemption from minor status for all employees who are under 18. These records must be maintained for the duration of the minor’s employment. Unless exempt from the FLSA, the records must be kept until the minor turns 19.

Employers are not required by law to have permission from the parents to employ their minor child. However, we strongly encourage employers to include parents in the process.

“Work Permits” and/or “Working Papers” are not required in Florida and are not issued by either the schools or any governmental agency in Florida. Please see Waivers.

There are both state and federal child labor laws regulating the hour limitations of minors. Employers must observe the stricter provisions when the laws are different. The application of the stricter portion of both federal and state law is provided below.

Minors 14 and 15:
When public school is in session, minors may work a maximum of 3 hours per day on school days and up to 8 hours per day on Saturday, 8 hours on Sunday and 8 hours on non-school days, when a school day does not follow. Remember these daily times are options as this age group is able to work only 15 hours per week (seven day period). They may work between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. but may not work during public school hours.

When school is not in session, June 1st through Labor Day, 14 and 15-year-old minors may work up to 8 hours each day and 40 hours per week between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Minors 16 and 17:
When public school is in session, minors 16 & 17 may not work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. or for more than 8 hours per day, when school is scheduled the following day, nor during the hours that school is in session. These hour limitations do not apply on non-school days when a school day does not follow, during non-school weeks, and during summer vacation.
When school does not follow the next day, such as Friday, Saturday, and other days that precede Sunday and a holiday, minors 16 and 17 may work until their shift is completed. Example: A minor begins work on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and the shift ends at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning. This is not considered a violation of the regulation that minors may not work before 6:30 a.m. when school is scheduled the following day, because the minor is completing his Saturday shift, and not beginning a work shift before 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.

These teens may work no more than 30 hours per week when school is in session. However, during the Summer vacation and non-school weeks they may work unlimited hours.

Minors are NOT permitted to work during normal school hours unless they are enrolled in a school-to-work experience program, career education or other program declared exempt by the state, or have received a partial waiver.

Breaks: Minors 15 yrs. and under are not permitted to work more than four hours without a 30-minute, uninterrupted meal break. Minors 16/17yrs., If scheduled to work 8 or more hours in any one day may not work for more than 4 hours continuously without an interval of at least 30 minutes for a meal period. This applies throughout the year.

Days: Minors 15 yrs. and younger are not permitted to work more than six consecutive days in one week. This applies throughout the year.

Exemptions: Minors are exempt from the hour limitations of the Child Labor Law if they have been married, enrolled in a home education program or an approved virtual instruction program in which the minor is separated from the teacher by time only, graduated from an accredited high school, or holds a high school equivalency diploma, has served in the military, has been authorized by a court order, or has been issued a partial waiver by the public school or the Child Labor Program.

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