FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky could soon relax state restrictions on child labor.
House Bill 255 would remove the cap on the number of hours that 16 and 17-year-olds can work on school nights and allow 14 and 15-year-olds to work in some hazardous occupations.
However, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act still has regulations on jobs that are off-limits to teens. For example, jobs that include the use of certain power tools, meat processing, or loading and unloading cargo from a vehicle.
However, Education and Labor Cabinet General Counsel Jessica Williamson warned lawmakers that under Kentucky's changes, state labor officials wouldn’t be able to enforce the federal hazardous occupation standards.
Rep. Phillip Pratt, R - Georgetown, the bill’s lead sponsor, has been emphasizing the life lessons teens can learn from holding down a job — from learning the value of money to the importance of taking personal responsibility.
"The bill will expand opportunities for 16 and 17-year-olds to gain valuable experience in the workplace, which will set them up for success in adulthood," Pratt said.
Opponents of HB 255 warned that getting rid of the restrictions would harm teens.
"This legislation doesn't open up the labor market to Kentucky teens, it simply lowers the guardrails to allow children to work in more dangerous jobs for too many hours each day and each week," said Dustin Pugel with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
“When it comes to allowing 14 to 17-year-olds to engage in labor that’s dangerous, harmful and threatens their life, and Kentucky has no oversight on that — we’re taking away Kentucky’s oversight — count me out on that," said Sen. Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington.
HB 255 failed during a Thursday vote when the Senate Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor Committee met. However, the bill passed the next day when it was called up again.
