Changing Iowa child labor laws: Dangerous or valuable?
Iowa state lawmakers are considering a bill that would let kids as young as 14 years old take jobs that are currently illegal for them to do under state law.
Senate File 167 would rewrite Iowa’s child labor laws.
The bill includes extending the hours minors are available to work from 7-9 p.m.
Minors 16 years old would be allowed to serve alcohol with parental consent.
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It would also let kids 14-17 years old work in more dangerous fields under apprenticeship-style programs.
The Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce’s governmental affairs director thinks the bill would give minors valuable work experience.
“This would give our younger people an opportunity to learn to be on time at a job, to take responsibility, to grow within their responsibilities and we find that that’s very valuable,” said Rhonda Ludwig.
The bill already cleared the senate workforce subcommittee with a recommendation to pass it.
Democrats oppose it because businesses would have limited liability in cases where kids are seriously injured or killed on the job.
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