Study: Iowa employers rarely penalized for endangering youth at work

DES MOINES - More than two years after Iowa lawmakers passed a law loosening work requirements for teens, a study by a progressive advocacy group says the state isn’t doing enough to protect minors in the workforce.

A recently released report from Common Good Iowa found that out of the 77 investigations conducted in 2024 by Iowa’s Wage and Child Labor Unit, just four employers received monetary penalties, totaling $36,350. The report’s authors say penalties in multiple cases were significantly reduced due to “good faith.”

Wage and Child Labor Unit is a part of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Licensing and Appeals, that is responsible for protecting Iowa children from hazards and overwork.

In 2023, Iowa state lawmakers passed a law allowing teens to work longer hours and at more jobs, including those formerly off-limits as being hazardous, which conflicts with stricter federal requirements.

Some of these jobs involving potential hazards include roofing, woodworking and operating power saws and power-driven metal forming, punching and shearing machines, as well as demolition and excavation. The law change also permits workers 16 to 17 years old to serve alcohol in restaurants, with parental permission and adult supervision.

Lawmakers and others in support of the legislation argued it provides more flexibility in work schedules, creates opportunities for young Iowans who want to work and helps them learn important skills while keeping them safe.

The report’s author, Sean Finn, said the report was inspired by both these recent law changes and an increase in the number of minors employed across the country. From 2015 to 2022, the number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws rose by 283%, according to Finn.

“We also need the state to stop being so lenient with these employers who are found to violate child labor standards, if we continue going on and just kind of giving a slap on the wrist to employers who are ignoring child labor standards, it creates a bad culture in the state where employers can just get away with this kind of thing,” Finn said during a call with reporters Friday morning.

Common Good Iowa is calling on the state to realign state child labor standards with federal standards, saying that differences in laws cause confusion among employers and workers. They are also asking the state to impose stricter penalties on employers caught violating child labor laws and hire more staff at the Iowa’s Wage and Child Labor Unit to investigate potential cases of child labor.

Finn said the group found that in 2024, Iowa had four investigators on staff, but that number dropped to three in January.

In one case highlighted in the report, a 17-year-old died on the job in July 2023 after a work UTV being driven by another minor, and in which the 17-year-old was a passenger, flipped over and crushed him. According to the report, the initial fine on the employer was $57,500, but it was dropped to $18,750 after the employer fought the fine.

Other cases in the report include minors working at fast food restaurants being scheduled to work too early or too late in the day. It also states that Iowa’s Wage and Child Labor Unit received an email expressing concerns about a minor working overnight at a construction site.

Iowa AFL-CIO President Charlie Wishman said there are a lot of opportunities for minors to learn responsibility and make money without being put in unsafe positions.

“You can't just have three cops on the beat and expect that everyone's going to go the speed limit. That doesn't work. And you don't get mad at the three cops, those three people, I'm sure, are doing their hardest,” Wishman said during a press conference Friday.

The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing did not immediately respond to request for comment Friday afternoon.

Gazette Deputy Des Moines Bureau Chief Tom Barton contributed to this report.