Guest columnist Heather Smith is Policy Matters Ohio’s work and wage researcher.
Some of Ohio’s leaders want to make it easier to exploit teenagers by rolling back child labor laws.
Senate Bill 50 would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on a school night. It also would allow work permits to be authorized without consulting the child’s school district — a current requirement to ensure youth aren’t falling behind in their classes.
These changes would violate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which limits working hours for teens younger than 16 to three hours per day and before 7 p.m.
State legislators are banking on amendments to the FLSA — a goal of President Donald Trump’s policy roadmap, Project 2025.
Some unscrupulous businesses love this idea: Ohio businesses are allowed to pay workers under the age of 16 less than the minimum wage.
The change would increase profits for the few at the expense of Ohio kids and their education. And the more businesses can get away with that, the harder it is for adult workers to bargain for anything better than the minimum.
Restaurants are especially likely to take advantage of this option. They often are open outside of typical business hours and often employ young workers.
They are also especially likely to commit child labor violations. Of the 570 child labor violations in Ohio verified by the U.S. Department of Labor in the past 25 years, half were filed against restaurants.
In 2023, a Cincinnati pizza restaurant was fined for allowing children under the age of 16 to operate gas ovens and open flames.
Also in 2023, an Ohio lathe mill paid fines for employing a 15-year-old to operate a wood-processing machine, who “became entangled in the gears.”
Ohio’s leaders should be focused on keeping kids out of places where they’re being mistreated and harmed, not creating more opportunities for abuse.
Children’s education should be a top priority of Ohio legislators. Limiting how late children can work on school nights encourages them to put education first, get their homework done and come to school ready to learn.
The fact that some families depend on income from working teens is a result of Ohio leaders’ failure to create an economy that serves Ohio families; letting younger people work later hours only makes things worse.
Ohio’s children deserve to be kids — to play, learn and grow.
The Clock Out Kids Act, introduced by State Reps. Lauren McNally and Erika White, puts more protections in place — including increased penalties for employers who require minors to work late in violation of the law.
Increasing penalties makes it harder for companies to treat children as just another cost of doing business – something that is all too common, even with the existing safeguards.
The Clock Out Kids Act would also empower school officials to report child labor violations to the Ohio Department of Commerce and would dedicate a staff person in that department to investigating those violations.
Legal protections have little to no ramifications if they are not properly enforceable. This bill recognizes that and creates mechanisms to put the safety and well-being of our children first.
Ohio legislators ought to support this bill over SB 50. Our kids deserve as much.
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