Testimony Opposing Senate Bill 50 — Isbel Alvarado, Central Ohio Worker Center (November 4, 2025)

Summary

A witness information form dated November 4, 2025, for Isbel Alvarado, Case Manager and Community Organizer, listing the organizations as Central Ohio Worker Center, Northeast Ohio Worker Center and Cincinnati. The form marks Senate Bill 50 and the Opponent box, followed by written testimony opposing Senate Bill 50 before the Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee. The testimony states that the three worker centers assisted workers who filed a complaint alleging wage theft and violations of Ohio's minor labor laws, and says the federal Fair Labor Standards Act limits 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 7 p.m. during the school year. It also cites a 31% increase between 2019 and 2024 and urges the committee to reject the bill.

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             WITNESS INFORMATION FORM
                Please complete the Witness Information Form before testifying:


Date:    November 4, 2025

Name:     Isbel Alvarado

Are you representing: Yourself     Organization ✓
Organization (If Applicable):    Central Ohio Worker Center, Northeast Ohio Worker Center, Cincinnati In

Position/Title: Case Manager and Community Organizer
Address: PO Box 83011
City: Columbus             State: OH                         Zip: 43203
Best Contact Telephone: (614) 256-7191                Email: isbel@centralohioworkercenter.org
Do you wish to be added to the committee notice email distribution list? Yes ✓ No

Business before the committee
        Legislation (Bill/Resolution Number):     Senate Bill 50

        Specific Issue: Regards age and schooling certificates, minor work hours
Are you testifying as a: Proponent     Opponent ✓ Interested Party
Will you have a written statement, visual aids, or other material to distribute? Yes     No ✓
(If yes, please send an electronic version of the documents, if possible, to the Chair’s office prior
to committee. You may also submit hard copies to the Chair’s staff prior to committee.)
How much time will your testimony require? 2-3 minutes


Please provide a brief statement on your position:
Our organizations's experience shows that current safeguards are already being
violated, and extending work hours for 14- and 15-year-olds will only make exploitation
more common. We believe Ohios priority should be protecting children, promoting fair
wages, and ensuring accountability in the workplace, not turning back the clock on child
labor safeguards.
Please be advised that this form and any materials (written or otherwise) submitted or presented
to this committee are records that may be requested by the public and may be published online.
Testimony Opposing Senate Bill 50
Before the Ohio House Commerce & Labor Committee

Chair Mark Johnson, Vice-Chair Beth Lear, Ranking Member Lauren McNally, and Members of
the House Commerce & Labor Committee: My name is Isbel Alvarado, and I serve as Case
Manager and Community Organizer at the Central Ohio Worker Center.

I submit this testimony to the committee on behalf of Ohio’s network of worker centers, the
Northeast Ohio Worker Center, the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center, and the Central Ohio
Worker Center. All three of our organizations work to build a more just Ohio, where all workers,
regardless of background, are treated with dignity, paid fairly, and protected under the law. I
appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 50.

   1. SB 50 weakens protections designed to keep children safe and focused on school
          a. Ohio’s child labor laws exist to ensure that young workers can gain early job
              experience without sacrificing their education, health, or safety. Extending work
              hours into later evening shifts undermines that balance.
          b. Fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds are still in middle and early high school. Asking
              them to work until 9 p.m. on school nights, often followed by commutes and
              homework, means less rest, less study time, and higher risks of burnout.
   2. Worker Centers in Ohio have documented real cases of wage theft and child labor
      violations
          a. We have directly assisted minors and young workers who have experienced
              serious wage and hour violations under current law, before any expansion of work
              hours.
          b. At the Central Ohio Worker Center we supported a group of workers who filed a
              complaint alleging wage theft and violations of Ohio’s minor labor laws.
                   i. The allegations included:
                          1. Minors working long days without proper breaks;
                          2. Workers who were not paid the Ohio state minimum wage;
                          3. Minors who were not paid for their work entirely or in part.
          c. These are not isolated incidents. They illustrate how, even under current limits,
              employers are already violating youth labor protections. Weakening those
              protections through SB 50 would only make such abuses more likely and harder
              to detect.
   3. Low-wage and immigrant teens are especially vulnerable
          a. Worker centers serve low-wage and immigrant workers, and we see many
              teenagers who work to help their families make ends meet. They take jobs to
              contribute to rent, groceries, and other basic needs.
          b. When young people are put in that position, they are often reluctant to speak up
              about mistreatment or unpaid wages because their families depend on that
              income. This makes them especially easy to exploit, at a time in life when they
               should be focusing on school, rest, and personal development, not bearing the
               burden of family finances.
           c. SB 50 risks normalizing that exploitation by opening the door to later hours and
               weaker oversight.
   4.   Extending hours creates enforcement challenges and conflicts with federal law
           a. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) limits 14- and 15-year-olds to work
               until 7 p.m. during the school year. SB 50’s proposal to allow work until 9 p.m.
               would create confusion among employers and complicate enforcement.
           b. Many small businesses are unaware that federal law supersedes state law, and as a
               result, young workers could be illegally scheduled, and bear the burden of the
               violation themselves.
   5.   Child labor violations are on the rise, this is the wrong direction
           a. Between 2019 and 2024, DOL saw a 31% increase in the number of children
               employed in violation of federal child labor laws. In February 2023, WHD
               announced findings from one of the most pivotal child labor exploitation cases in
               agency history. See WHD Child Labor Report to Congress 2023-2024. Ohio is not
               immune. These violations are happening in our own communities, often in
               low-wage sectors like food service, entertainment, and retail.
           b. At a time when enforcement agencies are stretched thin, SB 50 sends the wrong
               message: that the state is willing to loosen protections instead of strengthening
               them.
   6.   True youth opportunity means education, not exploitation
           a. We support opportunities for young people to gain job experience, but that goal
               should be met through structured, educational, and well-supervised programs, like
               youth apprenticeships, paid internships, and after-school work-study partnerships.
           b. What SB 50 offers is not opportunity, it’s exposure to longer hours, increased
               fatigue, and greater vulnerability to abuse.
   7.   Conclusion
           a. For these reasons, the Northeast Ohio Worker Center, Cincinnati Interfaith
               Workers Center, and Central Ohio Worker Center strongly urges this committee to
               reject Senate Bill 50.
           b. Our organizations’ experience shows that current safeguards are already being
               violated, and extending work hours for 14- and 15-year-olds will only make
               exploitation more common.
           c. As community organizations, we believe Ohio’s priority should be protecting
               children, promoting fair wages, and ensuring accountability in the workplace, not
               turning back the clock on child labor safeguards.

Thank you for your attention and for your service to the people of Ohio.

Respectfully submitted,
Northeast Ohio Worker Center
Cincinnati Interfaith Workers Center
Central Ohio Worker Center


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