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Saturday, Jan. 25
The Indiana Daily Student

city politics

Child labor, digging and a tax cut: Indiana laws now in effect you should know about

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Indiana rang in the new year with the implementation of three new laws on Jan. 1, 2025, affecting the employment of minors, outdoor digging projects and Hoosiers’ income taxes. 

Child labor restrictions 

House Enrolled Act 1093 provides relaxed restrictions on child labor in Indiana.  

Under the bill, all restrictions on the times of day and the number of hours 16 and 17-year-olds can work are repealed. Previously, 16 and 17-year-olds were only allowed to work up to 8 hours a day and 30 hours a week, or, with parental permission, 9 hours a day and 40 hours a week. Their work was allowed to take place between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. on days preceding a school day, except 17-year-olds with parental permission were allowed to work until 11:30 p.m. on such days.  

With all restrictions lifted, 16 and 17-year-olds are now allowed to work the same unlimited hours and times of day as an adult, without any parental permission required.  

Now, 16 and 17-year-olds employed in agriculture are no longer barred from working in dangerous occupations and can work shifts without adult supervision.  

Younger teenagers remain barred from being employed in certain jobs deemed hazardous. Such jobs include but are not limited to operating a motor vehicle, outdoor window washing, cooking, working on a ladder over 20 feet and working in a silo within 2 weeks after silage was added. Children ages 14 and 15 are still limited to working three hours a day and up to 18 hours a week during the school year and 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week during non-school days including summer break. They can only work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the summer, or from June 1 to Labor Day.  

Finally, employers will now face no fine for violating minor’s allotted working hours by periods of 10 minutes or less. If infractions continue and are greater than 10-minute increments of time, warnings and small fines may be applied. This law is enforced by the Indiana Department of Labor and complaints can be filed through them. Health and safety complaints can also be filed through the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  

“Call Before You Dig” Law  

Another amended law requires Hoosiers to notify utility crews of upcoming dig or excavation projects at least two full business days before work begins. This allows proper time for the locations of underground lines to be marked to better prevent accidents.  

Once work begins, excavating equipment used must stay outside of the “tolerance zone,” or two feet from either side of underground facilities and lines marked by utility crews. Work may not begin until 7 a.m. EST.  

Utility workers must respond to requests for line markings within two business days and those who are executing the project must acknowledge the utility workers’ positive response to their inquiry before starting work in the area. These requests and responses can be submitted and viewed through Indiana 811 

Projects cannot begin later than 10 calendar days after the time and date of the original notification. If the project has not been started within 10 days after the notice, a new request must be sent to utilities.  

Violators of this law can face up to $10,000 in civil penalty fines.  

Income tax cuts  

The third law implemented a change in taxpayers’ incomes. Indiana lawmakers ended the 2022 legislative session by passing an income tax cut set to take place over seven years. Its goal was to cut the individual income tax rate to 2.9% from 3.23%. In 2023, legislators shortened the timeline to complete reductions in January 2027.  

The most recent reduction in Hoosier’s income taxes is down to an even 3% as of the beginning of 2025 from the 3.05% rate of 2024. For the median household in Bloomington with $48,918 in income, this year’s tax cut will save $25.46.  

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