Testimony from the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, House Bill 5727 Youth Employment Standards Act

Summary

Testimony dated June 11, 2026, from the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) to the House Committee on Economic Competitiveness, opposing HB 5727 on the Youth Employment Standards Act. MIRC describes itself as a statewide legal resource center that works to ensure the rights of immigrants are respected. It states that eliminating the youth work permit system means there will be no record of which employers are employing minors, and that the bill would allow children under 16 years to work up to 48 hours a week (8 hours a day, 6 days a week) when school is not in session. It also states that the bill allows LEO to grant deviations for minors to be employed between midnight and 5am. Submitted by Anna Hill Galendez, Managing Attorney, and Christine Sauvé, Policy, Engagement, and Communications Manager.

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June 11, 2026
House Committee on Economic Competitiveness
House Bill 5727 Youth Employment Standards Act
Testimony from the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center

The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) is a statewide legal resource center that works to ensure the
rights of immigrants are respected and upheld across Michigan. We oppose HB 5727 as it puts some of
Michigan’s most vulnerable children in serious jeopardy of labor exploitation.

MIRC is honored to represent many immigrant and refugee children. For years, we have screened our young
clients for workplace abuses and educated them about workplace rights and enforcement mechanisms. Only a
few years ago, national reporting by The New York Times brought serious concerns of the exploitation and
trafficking of migrant children in Michigan into focus (see Hannah Drier, Alone and Exploited, Migrant
Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S., NYT, Feb. 28, 2023). This reporting shed light on the deplorable
conditions unaccompanied immigrant children in Michigan and elsewhere face in the workplace. Unfortunately,
the exploitation of children in the workplace has only grown. For example, the Economic Policy Institute
reports that “[i]n 2025, more cases of federal child labor violations were uncovered than during any other year
since the Great Recession, and hazardous work violations ticked up again after declining in the year prior” (see
State lawmakers continued to weaken child labor protections in 2026, EPI, Jun. 2, 2026).

MIRC engaged in numerous conversations and forums with lawmakers, state and federal labor enforcement
agencies, and law enforcement, who were appalled by the conditions children were facing and were committed
to preventing these kinds of abuses from continuing. Ensuring that there is accountability for unscrupulous
employers who prey on children's vulnerability to reduce their bottom line is an essential piece of preventing
child exploitation and trafficking. HB 5727 does the opposite, not only by eliminating the important safeguards
created by 2024 PA 196, but also by providing even fewer protections than existed prior to 2024 PA 196.

Eliminating the youth work permit system means there will be no record of which employers are employing
minors. There will be no effective oversight of the types of jobs, hours, or wages minors are making. Employers
will have no oversight of their responsibility to verify children’s age, no obligation to obtain permission or
verification from a child’s school, and no obligation to obtain permission from a child’s parent or guardian. This
leaves vulnerable children with no protection and effectively no recourse.

The bill would further allow children under 16 years to work up to 48 hours a week (8 hours a day, 6 days a
week) when school is not in session, and allows LEO to grant deviations for minors to be employed between
midnight and 5am, and to perform work “hazardous or injurious to [their] health or personal well-being.” These
allowances create serious health and safety concerns.

Thank you for your consideration and we urge you to act to protect Michigan’s children, and oppose HB 5727.
                                                                                                                  1
Submitted by:

Anna Hill Galendez
Managing Attorney
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
ahill@michiganimmigrant.org

Christine Sauvé
Policy, Engagement, and Communications Manager
Michigan Immigrant Rights Center
csauve@michiganimmigrant.org




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