Michigan House Bill HB5727

Michigan 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/18/26
• Refer: 3/18/26

Caption

Labor: youth employment; youth employment standards act; restore former provisions, and eliminate requirement for a work permit. Amends title & secs. 2, 5, 7, 10, 15 & 20 of 1978 PA 90 (MCL 409.102 et seq.); adds sec. 19a & repeals secs. 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 6, 8 & 9 of 1978 PA 90 (MCL 409.104a et seq.).

Summary

HB5727 revises Michigan’s Youth Employment Standards Act to change how minors are authorized to work and to restore several prior provisions governing youth employment. The bill shifts the work-permit process away from school-issued permits and toward employer-based documentation of a minor’s age, while still requiring employers to keep proof-of-age records for the duration of employment. It also updates definitions and administrative references to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and the director, and it repeals several sections of the existing act related to the registration system and other provisions. The bill also tightens and reorganizes rules on when minors may work, especially those under 16, by restating limits on hours, school-day work, and nighttime employment. It preserves restrictions on minors working in alcohol-related areas, but allows certain employment in establishments that sell alcohol if food or other goods make up at least 50% of gross receipts. In addition, it adds a new section expressly allowing minors age 14 and older to work in nonagricultural jobs involving power-driven lawn mowers or cutters, and it keeps the director’s authority to issue limited deviations from standards, while prohibiting deviations that would allow work between midnight and 5 a.m. or in hazardous occupations.

Impact

HB5727 would amend the Youth Employment Standards Act, changing statutory procedures for minor employment verification, permit issuance, school notification, and recordkeeping by employers. It would repeal sections 4a through 4d and 6, 8, and 9 of the act, which the bill caption indicates are tied to the former work-permit and registration framework, and it would revise sections 2, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 to align the act with the new approach. The bill affects employers of minors, schools and issuing officers, the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, and minors under 18, especially those under 16 subject to hour and occupation limits.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears to be framed as a restoration of earlier youth-employment rules while eliminating the work-permit requirement, suggesting a deregulatory or administrative streamlining goal rather than a major expansion of child labor. No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, amendments, or partisan division in the available materials. The overall tone of the bill is regulatory and procedural, with continued emphasis on protecting minors’ schooling, safety, and working conditions.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the elimination of the work-permit requirement and the replacement of school-based permit administration with employer-held age documentation, which could be viewed as reducing oversight even as the bill retains age and hour restrictions. Another likely issue is the bill’s treatment of work in establishments that sell alcohol and its allowance for minors 14 and older to operate power-driven lawn mowers or cutters, both of which may raise child-safety concerns. Supporters would likely emphasize simplification and restoration of prior law, while opponents may focus on whether the changes weaken safeguards for minors or shift too much responsibility to employers.