Regardless of age, all workers are entitled to compensation when injured in the workplace. In most states, including Florida, minor employees are given additional protection. A team of experienced workers’ compensation lawyers can break down the process, making it easier to fight for your rights.
If you or a loved one has suffered a Florida work injury, contact our team at Sternberg | Forsythe, P.A. We understand your injuries can be confusing, frightening, and draining. Our dedicated office makes it possible for you to focus on healing, while we focus on compensation.
Additional protections offered for minor employees injured in the workplace exist to protect minors from being exploited. These protections include future earning capacity and illegal employment.
Future Earning Capacity
When a minor suffers a permanent partial or total disability as the result of a workplace injury, the employee may receive compensation for future wages lost. Even a small loss of annual income can lead to a huge settlement over a decades-long career.
Illegal Employment
If an employer chooses to hire minors illegally, the amount paid to the minor is doubled (if ordered by a judge). Your workers’ compensation lawyers can help fight for this result.
Examples of illegal employment include an employed minor that lacks the proper work permit or an employed minor that works in excess of the number of hours per week permitted by the state of Florida.
In Florida, minors under fourteen may not work at all.
During the school year, minors fourteen and fifteen may not work:
- More than fifteen hours per week
- During school hours (exceptions apply)
- Before seven o’clock in the morning
- After seven o’clock in the evening
- More than three hours on school nights
- More than eight hours on non-school nights
- More than eighteen hours a week
Outside the school year, minors fourteen and fifteen may not work:
- More than eight hours per day
- More than forty hours per week
- Before seven o’clock in the morning
- After nine o’clock in the evening
During the school year, minors sixteen and seventeen may not work:
- More than thirty hours per week
- During school hours (exceptions apply)
- Before six-thirty in the morning
- After eleven o’clock in the evening
- More than eight hours on school nights
Outside the school year, minors sixteen and seventeen have no hourly limitations.
For a complete list of child labor laws in the state of Florida, click here.
Contact a Florida Work Injury Attorney for Representation
If you or a loved one has suffered a Florida work injury, contact our experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at Sternberg | Forsythe, P.A. by calling 561-687-5660. Our team is dedicated to keeping your best interests at the center of the conversation and fighting for the compensation you deserve.