Door County pub: Longer summer hours for teens would help

STURGEON BAY (WLUK) -- The State Senate has passed a bill that would allow those under 16 to work longer hours during the summer. It still needs approval from the Assembly and Gov. Tony Evers before it’s finalized.

While a Door County summer is likely not on your mind during a rainy October day, it is for the owners of Kitty O’Reilly’s Irish Pub, Buster and Amy Crook. The owners say extending summer working hours for their 14- and 15-year-old food runners would help.

“We had some college students last year, and they’re great, too. They’re also motivated to make money, but they leave early to mid-August,” said Buster Cook. “Younger kids, they work all the way up until Labor Day, so they work until they go back to school. To have that extended period of time for those kids would be a great opportunity.”

Current law does not allow 14- or 15-year-olds to work later than 9 p.m. over the summer and no later than 7 p.m. from Labor Day until May 31. The proposed law would allow them to work until 9:30 p.m. before a school day and until 11 p.m. if they don’t have school the next day.

Jon Jarosh with Destination Door County told FOX 11 over the phone this would help the address apart of the ongoing job shortage.

“Certainly not the only solution to the challenges we face in the industry, but I think it would go a long way to help especially in some of those seasonal spots,” said Jarosh.

While many in the tourism industry are in favor of extending hours, there are some groups that are against it.

In a statement Wisconsin AFL-CIO—a group representing labor unions— said, “for over 150 years, Wisconsin has protected children who work through the passage and enforcement of state laws that ensue children do not work long and late shifts. All of Wisconsin’s 14- and 15-year children are owed the same level of protection our state has provided to teenage workers in the past.”

But business owners Buster and Amy Crook say they know their 14- and 15-year-olds would want to work longer hours, in hopes to save for things like a car. And they keep in touch with their younger employees parents, too.

“With the communication with the parents, if we have issues, I have some of the parents in my phone too so we have communication besides the kids,” said Amy Crook.