For immediate release: March 10, 2026

Media contact: National Consumers League/Child Labor Coalition Reid Maki, reidm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2820

Washington, DC—The Child Labor Coalition (CLC), consisting of 38 organizational members who work to end exploitative child labor, is disappointed by Gov. Mike Braun’s signing into law House Bill 1302, which dismantles the state’s system for tracking teen workers.

The Youth Employment System (YES) required companies with five or more teens on the payroll to register their business and self-report the number of minors they had hired and their employment status, as well as other details. It follows Indiana’s unfortunate decision to eliminate its work permit system in July 2021.

“We believe that eliminating this system compounds the mistake of ending the work permit system,” said Reid Maki, the director of Child Labor Advocacy and the coordinator of the CLC. “In deciding not to track teen workers, Indiana is making child labor enforcement efforts significantly more difficult. Our child labor laws help protect teens from workplace injuries and ensure that their education is not negatively impacted by excessive work hours. We should not be weakening the ability of state inspectors to safeguard kids.”

The CLC sent Governor an electronic letter urging him to veto HB 1302 on February 27th. In December, the CLC sent Ohio Governor Mike DeWine a letter urging him to veto a bill that would have extended hours for 14- and 15-year-old workers. DeWine vetoed the bill, saying he didn’t think the state needed to risk the educational success of teen workers. The CLC urged Gov. Braun to do the same.

Since 2020, Indiana has progressively weakened child labor protections. “The state has eliminated rest breaks for minor workers and extended maximum weekly hours for 16- and 17-year-olds,” noted Maki. “Now, they’ve ended the

system that helped state agencies monitor that work for minors was age-appropriate and safe.”

As the Economic Policy Institute has noted, the registration law may have played a role in deterring future, more serious violations.

House Bill 1302 only made tweaks to the YES system when it moved to the Indiana Senate, where Sen. Linda Rogers (R-Granger), a golf-course owner who employs teens and the bill’s Senate sponsor, urged the dismantling of the entire reporting system. Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) was among those who urged a less drastic approach: “There’s another solution to this problem. You don’t eliminate a reporting requirement when it comes to children and labor,” he said.

###

About the National Consumers League (NCL)      

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.