Anyone who is 15 or younger must obtain a permit from the Department of Workforce Development, the state agency which oversees labor issues, in order to work in most jobs across the state.
Between 2019 and 2022, the number of permits issued rose from 29,322 to 37,404, an increase of 27%.
The overwhelming majority of those permits are issued to 14- and 15-year-olds, though permits have been issued for workers as young as 10 over the past four years. State law generally limits minors from being employed before the age of 12 but there are exceptions, such as acting in a theater or movie production.
Critics, including conservative legislators and business groups, have long considered the work permit requirement nothing more than a burden on employers and the minors themselves. Lawmakers previously scrappedwork permits for 16- and 17-year-olds in the state in 2017.
Now they have their sights set on eliminating the requirement for 14- and 15-year-olds as well. A bill proposing the change passed the state Senate earlier this month on a 21-11 vote, with all but one Republican voting in favor.
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Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case for Comprehensive Technological Freedom
Yet, I was blessed to shovel snow, deliver newspapers (winter, too) and wash dishes and later cook at a restaurant before the current regulation….