Florida Child Labor Laws: Hours, Hazardous Jobs, and Penalties

Florida child labor laws are set out in Chapter 450, Part I of the Florida Statutes. They require most minors to be at least 14 to work, cap how many hours and how late minors under 18 can be scheduled, and ban them from a defined list of hazardous jobs. Both these state rules and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act apply at the same time, and an employer must follow whichever standard is more protective of the minor.¹ Florida does not issue work permits, but it does impose documentation, scheduling, and safety rules that catch employers who only look at federal law.

Minimum Age to Work

A minor must be at least 14 years old to hold a job in Florida.² A few narrow exceptions let younger children work:

Children of any age may work in a business owned by their parent, provided the work is not hazardous.
Children as young as 10 may deliver newspapers.²
Minors of any age may work in film, television, theater, music, and similar productions if the employer holds a permit from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.³
Minors may serve as pages in the Florida Legislature.

Outside these categories, no employer may hire anyone under 14.

Work Hours for 14- and 15-Year-Olds

Florida’s tightest scheduling limits fall on its youngest workers. When school is in session, 14- and 15-year-olds may work no more than 3 hours on any day followed by a school day, no more than 15 hours in a week, and only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on those days. They also cannot work more than 6 days in a row.⁴

During summer break and holidays the rules loosen. These minors can work up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, with a permitted window of 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.⁴ Minors in this age group also cannot work during public school hours unless they are enrolled in a career education or school-to-work program, or have received a waiver.⁵

A 30-minute uninterrupted meal break is required for every 4 consecutive hours of work. Anything shorter than 30 minutes does not count, and the 4-hour clock keeps running.⁴

Work Hours for 16- and 17-Year-Olds

Older teens have more flexibility, but real limits remain during the school year. On any day followed by a school day, they are capped at 8 hours, and during a school week at 30 hours total. The permitted window on those days runs from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and they cannot work during the hours their own school is actually in session unless they are enrolled in a qualifying career program.⁴ When school is not in session, these restrictions drop and 16- and 17-year-olds can work an adult schedule.

The 30-hour weekly cap is the one limit that can be lifted. A parent, custodian, or school superintendent can waive it by filling out a department-prescribed form and giving it to the employer.⁴ The daily 8-hour limit, the time-of-day window, and the school-hours ban remain in place.

Meal breaks work differently for this age group. A 30-minute break is only required when a 16- or 17-year-old is scheduled for 8 or more hours in a single day. A 16-year-old working a 5-hour shift has no statutory meal break under Florida law.⁴

Who Is Exempt from the Hour Rules

Certain minors are fully exempt from the scheduling caps, time-of-day windows, and school-day rules:⁵

Minors enrolled in a home education program.
Sixteen- and 17-year-olds who have already graduated high school or earned an equivalency diploma.
Minors enrolled in an approved virtual instruction program where they are separated from the teacher by time only.
Minors authorized to work by a court order.
Minors holding a valid certificate of exemption from compulsory school attendance issued by their superintendent.

Every other child labor rule still applies. A homeschooled 15-year-old is free from hour caps but still cannot operate power-driven machinery or work in any hazardous occupation.

Prohibited and Hazardous Jobs

Florida bans minors from a long list of dangerous jobs, and the list is stricter for younger workers. Minors 15 and under cannot:⁶

Operate power-driven machinery, other than lawn mowers with blades 40 inches or smaller
Manufacture or process products with industrial machines
Work with explosives or highly flammable materials
Work in sawmill or logging operations
Perform any scaffolding work
Perform heavy building trades work
Spray paint
Prepare meat, use slicing machines, or work in freezers or coolers (wrapping and labeling in a separate area is allowed)
Sell door-to-door (nonprofit organizations such as the Girl Scouts are excepted)
Wrestle alligators or work in snake pits

For all minors under 18, a broader list of prohibited occupations adds working around explosives or radioactive materials, roofing, demolition, excavation, logging, and operating most motor vehicles.⁶ Florida also adopts the federal hazardous-occupation orders at 29 C.F.R. Part 570 by reference, so the federal prohibited list applies as well.

Residential Construction Carve-Out

A 2024 law (HB 917) added a narrow exception: 16- and 17-year-olds may work on residential building construction if all three of these conditions are met:⁶

The minor holds an OSHA 10 safety certification.
The minor is directly supervised by someone at least 21 years old with at least two years of related experience and an OSHA 10 certification of their own.
The minor does not work on any scaffolding, roof, superstructure, or ladder above six feet.

The carve-out applies only to residential construction. Commercial construction sites remain off-limits to everyone under 18.

Working Where Alcohol Is Sold

Florida’s Beverage Law is a separate layer of restrictions. It generally prohibits any licensed alcohol vendor from employing anyone under 18, then carves out several exceptions:⁷

Minors may work in grocery stores, drugstores, department stores, florists, specialty gift shops, and gas stations that hold a beer or beer-and-wine license, as long as sales are for off-premises consumption.
Minors who are 17 or older, or a senior in high school with written principal permission, or a high school graduate, may work in restaurants that serve alcohol, but they cannot sell, prepare, or serve the beverages, and their duties must involve food-service training that could lead to career advancement.
Minors may work in bowling alleys where alcohol is sold, provided they have no role in selling, preparing, or serving beverages.
Minors may work in hotels as bellhops, elevator operators, and similar positions, as long as they work in areas separate from where alcohol is sold for on-premises consumption.

No minor may work in any role involving nudity as adult entertainment.⁷

Wages and On-the-Job Injuries

Florida does not set a separate minimum wage for minors. Every working minor earns at least the state minimum wage, which reaches $15.00 per hour for non-tipped employees on September 30, 2026. The federal youth minimum wage of $4.25 for the first 90 days does not apply here because Florida’s higher rate controls.

Injuries on the job carry a heavy consequence for employers who broke child labor rules. If a minor is hurt while employed in violation of Florida’s child labor law, a judge of compensation claims can order additional workers’ compensation on top of standard benefits, up to double the normal amount.⁸ The employer pays that extra amount personally. Insurance carriers are not liable for it, and any policy language purporting to cover it is void.

Documentation Employers Must Keep

Florida does not require work permits, but it does require two things before a minor starts.

Proof of Age

Any employer hiring a minor must obtain and keep proof of the child’s age for the whole duration of employment. The statute accepts a photocopy of the minor’s birth certificate, a photocopy of the driver’s license, an age certificate from the school district, or a photocopy of a passport or visa showing the date of birth.⁹ These records must be available for state inspection at any time, and Florida requires child labor records to be kept for one year after the minor’s employment ends.

Child Labor Law Poster

Employers must also post an official Child Labor Law notice where minor employees can easily see it.⁹ The poster lists minors’ rights and provides contact information for reporting violations. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation supplies copies at no cost.

Waivers for Hardship

When the standard limits do not fit a minor’s circumstances, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation can grant a partial waiver. Applications go through the department’s online portal, or by mail, email, or fax to the Child Labor Program office.¹⁰ The department grants a waiver when doing so clearly appears to be in the minor’s best interest.

Two grounds appear in the administrative rules:¹¹

Financial hardship, where following the standard rules would cause undue financial hardship for the minor or their immediate family.
Medical hardship, where following the standard rules would cause physical or mental hardship, supported by a physician letter stating the specific reasons and confirming the minor can safely work the requested hours.

An approved waiver must be kept on-site at the workplace. It changes the standard scheduling restrictions but does not override hazardous-occupation bans or any other safety rule.

Penalties for Violations

Penalties run on two parallel tracks. Criminally, any violation of the child labor law is a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.¹²¹³ Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, and each minor employed in violation counts as a separate offense.

Civilly, the department can impose administrative fines up to $2,500 per offense.¹² Before fining, the department must send written notice identifying the violation and giving the employer a chance to fix the problem within a specified time. Fines only apply when the employer fails to take corrective action after that notice. The department’s disciplinary guidelines distinguish minor scheduling mistakes from violations that endanger a child’s health or safety, so the actual fine tracks the severity.

On top of these, an employer whose violation coincides with an on-the-job injury faces up to double the normal workers’ compensation payout, with no insurance coverage for the extra amount.⁸ That combined exposure is what makes careful compliance worth the effort.

1
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 43 – Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
2
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Child Labor Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 450.132 – Entertainment Industry
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 450.081 – Hours of Work in Certain Occupations
5
MyFloridaLicense.com. Educational Guidelines
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 450.061 – Hazardous Occupations Prohibited; Exemptions
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 562.13 – Employment of Minors or Certain Other Persons by Certain Vendors Prohibited; Exceptions
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 440.54 – Violation of Child Labor Law
9
Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.045 – Proof of Identity and Age; Posting of Notices
10
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Child Labor Waiver
11
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 61L-2.007 – Partial Waivers
12
Florida Senate. Florida Code 450.141 – Employing Minor Children in Violation of Law; Penalties
13
Florida Senate. Florida Code 775.082 – Penalties; Applicability of Sentencing Structures; Mandatory Minimum Sentences