A bill would continue to roll back child labor law in Wisconsin. Yesterday, the Assembly Committee on Labor held a public hearing on a bill to eliminate all Child Labor Work Permits for kids (AB 442) and roll back Wisconsin’s child labor laws. This bill was passed in the Senate in October. It can now be voted on by the Assembly.
Work provides value to young people: in the wages they make, the work ethic they develop, and in the lessons they learn on-the-job. Our current child labor work permit process keeps kids safer at work by involving parents, providing critical information about where kids are working to Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and provides necessary funding for child labor law enforcement in our state.
Assembly Bill 442 will completely end work permits for all children, and in doing so will eliminate parents’ ability to sign off on employment for their child and receive critical information about their child’s job. Eliminating child labor permits also eliminates the current funding mechanism, a small $10 fee per permit paid by the employer, for the enforcement of child labor regulations in Wisconsin.
Assembly Bill 442 follows past efforts to roll back child labor laws. 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. Fortunately, Governor Evers used his veto to strike down last session’s attempt to further weaken child labor laws.
Through the 2017 child labor rollback and a few other states’ similar rollbacks, we have unfortunately seen a rise in teens harmed at work and working in hazardous and/or illegal jobs for their age over the last seven years. 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 just last year was up 37% from the previous year.
Over and over, backers of this bill have complained and made wrong claims about cumbersome paperwork and red tape, yet Wisconsin’s child work permit process has changed. Parents and guardians now go online to approve employment digitally.
Child work permits play and have played an essential role in protecting Wisconsin kids for over 100 years. The permit process provides the DWD enforcement office with critical information, such as how many 14- and 15 year-olds are working, where they are working and what job tasks they are performing.
In Solidarity,
Stephanie Bloomingdale, President
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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