Am I violating Child Labor Laws?

Hiring my Niece!

This past six months I have been paying my niece $25 per week to clean my house. She is thirteen years old and in the seventh grade. This was her first experience working. This is an interesting topic for me because in the back of my mind I sometimes feel a little guilty hiring her at that wage or feel weird that she may not be getting paid minimum wage if she works too slowly.

 I answered an interesting question on AVVO today:

Q: In the state of Florida how many hours can a 16 year old work per week?: Also. How much does the average teen make a month?

A: My Answer: Fla. Stat. § 450.081 provides specific guidance on what a 16 year old can work. "Minors 16 and 17 years of age shall not be employed, permitted, or suffered to work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11:00 p.m. or for more than 8 hours in any one day when school is scheduled the following day. When school is in session, minors 16 and 17 years of age shall not work more than 30 hours in any one week. On any school day, minors 16 and 17 years of age who are not enrolled in a career education program shall not be gainfully employed during school hours." There are exceptions: "(a) Minors 16 and 17 years of age who have graduated from high school or received a high school equivalency diploma. (b) Minors who are within the compulsory school attendance age limit who hold a valid certificate of exemption issued by the school superintendent or his or her designee pursuant to the provisions of s. 1003.21(3). (c) Minors enrolled in a public educational institution who qualify on a hardship basis such as economic necessity or family emergency. Such determination shall be made by the school superintendent or his or her designee, and a waiver of hours shall be issued to the minor and the employer. The form and contents thereof shall be prescribed by the department. (d) Children in domestic service in private homes, children employed by their parents, or pages in the Florida Legislature."

 These would include working for your parents, babysitting, working as a maid, etc. Hope this is helpful.

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Now my Niece is not 16. There are actually separate sections of the statute applying here.

Those laws are: "Minors 15 years of age or younger shall not be employed, permitted, or suffered to work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. when school is scheduled the following day or for more than 15 hours in any one week. On any school day, minors 15 years of age or younger who are not enrolled in a career education program shall not be gainfully employed for more than 3 hours, unless there is no session of school the following day."

Essentially, it looks like my major concern is keeping her working hours below three hours on schooldays or the day before school days. Thankfully, our home isn't too large to clean in three hours. This was a fun, informative example of how employment law impacts my personal life and I will look to tie this in similarly in other areas of my life and my practice of law.