Alabama House committee approves bill ending school approval for young teen workers

Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, listens during a debate over a bill to ban transgender athletes from college sports on April 18, 2023 in the Alabama House of Representatives. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

An Alabama House committee Wednesday approved legislation that removes a work permit requirement for 14-year-old and 15-year-old minors before they are employed.

The Children and Senior Advocacy Committee voted to approve HB 102 , sponsored by Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover, after delaying the proposal for a week to allow amendments reflecting concerns from members of the committee.

“We need some controls in place,” said Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile in an interview after the meeting. “Alabama suffers from a high absenteeism rate in schools and, unfortunately, sometimes that is due to parents. I needed some controls in place to make sure that parents are doing what they are doing and not using employment as a scapegoat for a student to be out of school.”

The Senate passed a companion bill , SB 53, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, in late February.

The legislation strips language from statute requiring a work eligibility form, but still requires employers to obtain a state Class I Child Labor certificate to hire minors who are 14 years old and 15 years old, as well as a Class II Child Labor certificate for those who are 16 years old and 17 years old.

Drummond said that by removing the permit, the bill removes schools from ensuring that minors continue to earn satisfactory grades and attend class.

The amended version removes a provision revoking or suspending employment for minors who are 14 years old and 15 years old for truancy or if their grades suffer. In place of that, legislators added language that the parent or guardian of the minor to be employed will notify the school, providing the name, address, and telephone number of the company where the minor will be employed.

Some human rights groups have become alarmed that states throughout the country have been moving to strip protections for child labor. According to a report from the EPI published in February, 28 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor laws since 2021. Most, according to the report, are located in the South and the Midwest.

“I don’t want to see that happen,” Drummond said. “That is why I felt we needed to put some guardrails around this particular piece of legislation, so that educators are aware, and we can do something when we see that is happening.”

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