Hoosier teenagers could work more hours under House Bill 1093, which passed the House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee 8-3 on Thursday.

Rep. Kendall Culp, R-Rensselaer, authored the bill, which would update Indiana state regulations to match federal restrictions for teenage workers.

Currently, the Indiana Code does not allow those between 14 and 16 to work past 7 p.m. on a school night. HB 1093 would reverse that and allow them to work later while also repealing restrictions on the hours 16- to 18-year-olds can work, including in farm labor. The bill removes the prohibition for working with hazardous materials for farm laborers.

There was an amendment that noted that if a child is 14 or older and they have completed the 8th grade, they are eligible to work traditional hours with a parent’s approval. A large push for this bill is from the Amish and Mennonite communities. Rep. David Abbot, R-Rome City, said this bill is beneficial for them as most children only go to school until 8th grade.

“I work with many, many Amish in business and employees,” Abbot said. “I know them to be quite entrepreneurs.”

A representative from that community, Stephen Jones, testified that learning does not end when a student leaves school. He said they teach their children to be productive citizens who continue to learn and that his community cares nothing more than for the safety of children.

“As a minister and a grandfather in our community, every Amish family, Mennonite family, does everything they can to protect the wellbeing of their child,” Jones said.

He added that the members of his community are more than open to being audited by the state as they try to follow the state and federal standards.

While the bill had many supporters, many individuals testified against HB 1093.

“This bill is an attempt to roll back child labor protections that have been fought for generation after generation,” said Sean Crist, secretary-treasurer of the Indiana State AFL-CIO, which represents more than 300,000 Hoosiers in trade unions.

Crist said children should focus more on improving their educations and working on skills that can be transferable to the workplace. The removal of work hour restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds could lead to possible abuse by being overworked by employers, which is at the expense of their education, he said.

“The individual without a high-school diploma or GED will likely face careers of limited job choice at a lower-than-average wage and possibly without meaningful benefits,” Crist said.

Many of the testimonies that supported the bill were from smaller businesses that claimed the current hours teenagers are allowed to work are not good for the business or the children.

Jennifer Owsley works with Indiana Beach Amusement Park, which employs many young people, and the hour restrictions make it difficult for them to work, she said.

“I get excited about this because we are struggling at Indiana Beach because we are open from May to past Labor Day, so the law that’s in place for our employment after 9 p.m. and after 7 p.m. on school days affects us,” she said. “And to remedy that, we’ve had to turn to J-1 Visa workers.”

According to U.S. News & World Report, “A movement to weaken American child labor protections at the state level began in 2022. By June 2023, Arkansas, Iowa, New Jersey and New Hampshire had enacted this kind of legislation, and lawmakers in at least another eight states had introduced similar measures.”