A bill to end child work permits for 14- and 15-year old children, which was passed by the Wisconsin Senate last year, is scheduled for a vote in the Wisconsin Assembly this Tuesday, February 13.
Assembly Bill 442 would eliminate work permits for 14-and 15-year olds. This dangerous bill takes away parental rights and weakens Wisconsin’s child labor enforcement mechanisms.
Click here to tell your Representative to vote NO on AB 442 when it comes up for a vote next week.
The current child labor work permit process keeps kids safer at work by involving parents, providing critical information about where kids work to Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and establishing needed funding for child labor law enforcement in Wisconsin.
Child work permits play and have played an essential role in protecting Wisconsin kids for over 100 years. The permit process provides the Department of Workforce Development enforcement office with essential information, such as how many 14- and 15 year-olds are working, where they are working, and what job tasks they are performing. It gives parents the ability to sign off on employment for their child and receive key information about their child’s working conditions. The small $10 employer-paid work permit is the current funding mechanism for the enforcement of child labor regulations in Wisconsin.
Assembly Bill 442 follows concerning past efforts to roll back child labor laws in Wisconsin. In 2017, the Legislature and former Governor Walker took away the right of parents to approve work for 16- and 17-year olds. Just last session, similar politicians attempted to pass a law that would expand the hours of work for some teenagers. Thankfully, Governor Evers used his veto power to strike down last session’s attempt to further weaken our child labor laws by expanding the hours kids can spend on the job.
In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in teens harmed at work and working in hazardous and/or illegal jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of minors employed in violation of child-labor laws was up 283% from 2015, and in 2022 was up 37% from the previous year alone.
We know the value of work to young people is important to developing a positive work ethic and needed job skills. We must take action to protect our current child labor work permit process which keeps kids safer at work.
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