Danette Heredia | Editor
In Florida, 167 new laws were passed aimed at ensuring fair overtime pay and youth participation in the workforce to address the rising cost of living, and counties were prohibited from enforcing heat safety standards.
Effective July 1, Florida will raise the limit for overtime pay. The wage exemption will increase from $684 per week to $844 per week, meaning more workers will now be eligible for overtime pay.
Child labor laws have also been relaxed since the passage of House Bill 49, which allows teenagers to work more than 30 hours a week with parental permission, but not more than eight hours a day.
House Bill 917, which deals with youth in the home construction industry, now allows them to work in the field, but under the supervision of an adult 21 years of age or older who has OSHA-10 certification and at least 2 years of experience.
The teen must also obtain an OSHA-10 certification to comply with OSHA regulations, but if a business is found to be in violation, it can face severe legal consequences and heavy fines from the state of Florida.
House Bill 197 also imposes strict restrictions on youths performing hazardous work, such as working on scaffolds, on roofs or in structural engineering, or using a ladder six feet or more high.
Florida has now prohibited counties from developing and enforcing their own heat response standards and requires them to adhere to state and federal standards.
Counties like Miami-Dade County, for example, had already made efforts to establish a statewide standard for heat safety measures and ensure that workers receive adequate water breaks when the heat index reaches 90.
However, due to the above-mentioned state law, these programs had to be discontinued.
With more than 26,000 emergency department visits due to heat-related illnesses between 2018 and 2022, local governments are unable to respond to these crises or support their frontline workers.
Rising temperatures and Florida’s growing older population will increase the likelihood of heat-related hospitalizations in the foreseeable future.
In the course of the year, further draft laws are likely to be introduced that indicate a relaxation of the current labor market policy.
