The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) signaled it is reconsidering Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) limits around work hours for 14- and 15-year-olds in its latest regulatory agenda. Specifically, the agenda contemplates changing restrictions on work hours for 14 and 15-year-olds. Federal records show no substantive changes to the laws governing youth employment since at least 1980. Attorneys also note that this would mark the first deregulatory shift in the area in decades.
Under current DOL rules, 14- and 15-year-olds may work up to 18 hours per week during the school year, capped at three hours on school nights and no later than 7 p.m. Outside the school year, they may work up to 40 hours per week, with shifts ending no later than 9 p.m. The regulatory agenda doesn’t specify the exact changes under consideration, but they would likely relax these standards.
Child advocates worry that relaxation of these standards would contribute to the eroding protections at the state level and may undermine health and education outcomes for minors. In 2026 alone, 13 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor protections. Of the 13 states, four states have already passed the legislation. These bills have proposed rolling back a variety of minor workplace protections including: weakening protections from hazardous work; implementing or expanding minimum wage exemptions for minors; extending the number of hours employers can schedule minors to work; eliminating the state’s youth employment documentation system; and lowering minimum age requirements for workers in childcare centers. By contrast, only three states have introduced bills to strengthen standards in 2026 so far. Taken together, the federal proposal and the growing number of state-level rollbacks may signal a broader shift in the direction of child labor policy.