Last October, Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. paid $31,680 in fines after the Department of Labor accused the
company of violating child labor laws at several stores by permitting 16- and
17-year-olds to perform hazardous jobs. Months earlier, a Taco Bell franchisee,
Border Enterprises, Inc., paid $24,200 in fines after a teenage employee was
killed in a traffic accident while driving to pick up provisions for the
restaurant, the Department of Labor announced. Child labor laws prohibit teens
under age 18 from driving on public roads as part of their jobs except in very
limited circumstances.
If you’re thinking of
hiring someone under 18 this summer or you already have a minor on the payroll,
it’s important to be familiar with the child labor rules. As these developments
show, the consequences of violations can be tragic, and the penalties severe.
We’ll explain what you need to know about the jobs and hours youth can and can’t
work.
Hazardous Jobs Are
Off-Limits
All teens are prohibited
from working in certain industries, including meat packing, mining, logging, roofing,
demolition, and pipe or brick manufacturing. You can also get into trouble for
allowing minors to work around explosives; radioactive materials; or power
equipment used for baking, meat slicing, woodworking, hoisting, or metal
formation.
All teens are prohibited from working in certain
industries, including meat packing, mining, logging, roofing, demolition, and
pipe or brick manufacturing
Plus, teens under age 17
cannot drive on public streets for work purposes. Seventeen-year-olds are
permitted to drive but with certain restrictions, including that the driving be
during daylight hours and amount to no more than one-third of the youth’s work
time in a day or 20 percent in a week.
Minors under 16 can’t
work in industries such as building construction, public utilities, storage
warehousing, public communications, transportation, and manufacturing. They’re
also barred from operating farm machinery, working from high scaffolds or
ladders, or dealing with dangerous animals, large timber, hazardous storage
areas, manure pits, or chemicals.
Other jobs that are
off-limits to 14- and 15-year-olds include retail or food-service positions
that involve working around boilers or engineering rooms, operating or
maintaining power equipment, washing windows using ladders, loading and
unloading goods, or using freezers and coolers.
400+ pages of state-specific, easy-read reference materials at your fingertips—fully updated! Check out the Guide to Employment Law for California Employers and get up to speed on everything you need to know.
Work Hours Restrictions
One of the biggest
errors employers make is failing to monitor the hours youngsters can work. Here’s
what you need to know:
• Hours of 14- and
15-year-olds. Minors generally must be at least 14 years old to work,
except in some entertainment and agricultural jobs. Between June 1 and Labor
Day, 14- and 15-year-olds may work a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours
per week, but they can’t work before 7:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. During the
school year, these youngsters may not work more than 3 hours on school days, 8
hours on non-school days, more than 18 hours per week, or before 7:00 a.m. and
after 7:00 p.m.
• Hours of 16- and
17-year-olds. When school is out, these teens can work up to 8 hours per day
and 48 hours per week, and overtime must be paid according to the rules for
adults. With a few exceptions, work hours must be between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00
p.m., but during the summer months or on evenings before a non-school day, this
age group can work as late as 12:30 a.m. When school is in session,
limits hours worked to 4 per school day and 8 on non-school days or on a school
day preceding a non-school day.
Miscellaneous Rules
• Work permits. You
and the minor’s parents must complete a work permit application that the
youngster then submits to his or her school. From there, the local school
district handles the paperwork and mails you a permit to employ, which you must
keep on file. There are special permits for students who work only during the
summer months.
• Wages. Minors
are covered by the adult minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. (But
remember, teens under 16 can’t work overtime.) However, in some cases, minors
can be paid a subminimum wage of $6.40 per hour, based on the current minimum wage
of $7.50.
• Special situations.
There are special rules for agricultural employers, door-to-door sales, and
situations in which the parent is the employer.
• Other rules. Like
adults, minors have the usual employee rights such as rest periods, workers’
compensation coverage, and statements of paycheck deductions. And, you’re
required to maintain separate records for the minors you hire.
For More Information
For more on child labor
rules, you can download the
labor commissioner’s publication, “Child Labor Laws,” at www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/DLSE-CL.htm.