The fine for businesses that violate Iowa’s child labor laws by having teens work too many hours or work too late at night has been lowered this week. The penalty had been $10,000, but has been lowered to $2500 for having a teenager work beyond the allowed time limits in state law. Mitchell Mahan, an attorney with the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, says $10,000 is the maximum amount for any child labor violation, including a worksite fatality if the employee is under 18.
“If a child is in the wrong occupation which is presumptively more dangerous, we still have a $10,000 penalty that applies,” Mahan says. “It just seemed, reading the statute, if the highest we could go is $10,000, maybe it shouldn’t apply to working 10 minutes late.”
Peter Hird of the Iowa Federation of Labor says it’s the wrong approach to enforcing child labor limits.
“We have seen examples in Iowa and other states where younger children are working night shifts or on job sites during the day. We believe the law should act as a deterrent to discourage employers from employing children at times when kids should either be receiving education or getting the necessary rest,” Hird says. “If Iowa were to find a dozen kids working on a night shift…this rule would be a penalty break for those bad actors. If anything, penalties should be increased for this type of behavior.”
Governor Reynolds signed child labor changes into law in 2023 to allow 14- and 15-year-old olds to work up to six hours on a school day and ’til 9 p.m. on school nights or until 11 p.m. during the summer. Iowa law also allows children of any age to work at a business owned by their family. Under a rule change that took effect this week, a parent no longer has to be present when their child works at the family’s business.
The changes were discussed earlier this week during a meeting of the legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee.