As Florida Republicans look to relax child labor regulations at the behest of the construction and tourism industries, critics argue that the state’s capacity to enforce the law is lacking as it is, and that the state should consider ways to strengthen protections for minors in the workplace, not undermine them. One bill proposed for the 2024 legislative session (HB 49) would gut restrictions on the number of hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work, allowing employers to schedule them for full-time hours during the school year. This would give employers, who currently can’t schedule minors more than 30 hours per week, the green light to work older teens later hours, and even put them on overnight shifts when they have school the next day.