The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has published final regulations that implement changes to some teen worker employment rules. Effective Feb. 15, the rules expand protections for minors working in certain industries and performing certain tasks. Note that California’s child labor rules generally incorporate the federal regulations.
Cooking by Teens Under 16
Under the new rules, 14- and 15-year-olds can only cook with deep fryers that have automated baskets or electric or gas grills that don’t have open flames. All other cooking and baking tasks remain prohibited for these employees, except for prep and serving work and operating nonhazardous machines like popcorn poppers, automatic coffee makers, and milk shake blenders.
The new rules eliminate the old requirement that 14- and 15-year-olds cook “in plain view” of customers, and they allow these workers to clean up equipment and oil or grease no hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Training Your New Supervisors: 11 Practical Lessons
Many brand-new supervisors have never been trained on how to manage, and they’ve probably had at least a few poor role models over the years. Learn how to point them in the right direction with our free White Paper, Training Your New Supervisors: 11 Practical Lessons.
Restrictions on Working Around Explosives
The employment of minors is greatly restricted in establishments that manufacture or store explosives or articles containing explosive components. The new rules update the definition of “explosives and explosive components” to include “any chemical compound, mixture, or device the primary or common purpose of which is to function by explosion.” Ammunition, black powder, blasting caps, fireworks, high explosives, primers, and smokeless powder all fall under the category of “explosives and explosive components,” though this is not an all-inclusive list.
Driving
The new rules implement the Drive for Teen Employment Act, completely barring workers under age 17 from driving on public roadways. Under the rules, 17-year-olds may drive on public roads or highways in the course of their job duties if all of these conditions are met:
- The driving is during daylight hours.
- The vehicle does not exceed 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and is equipped with seat belts, and the employer has instructed the teen that seat belts must be worn.
- The minor holds a state license valid for the type of driving involved and has no records of moving violations at the time of hire.
- The minor has successfully completed a state-approved driver education course.
- The driving does not involve: towing; route deliveries or sales; the transportation for hire of property, goods, or passengers; urgent, time-sensitive deliveries; more than two trips away from the primary place of employment in one single day to deliver goods or transport passengers; transporting more than three passengers; or driving beyond a 30-mile radius of the minor’s place of employment.
- The driving is only occasional and incidental to the teen’s employment, meaning it involves no more than one-third of the work time in any workday and no more than 20 percent in any workweek.
Roofing Prohibitions Expanded
The new rules expand the current prohibition against youth under age 18 working in roofing occupations to encompass all work on or about a roof, including work done on or in close proximity to a roof. However, minors may perform such work only if they are in an apprenticeship or student learner program.