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In 1915, California launched a system of occupational limitations and restrictions of child labor. The basic objective laid by California legislature in authorizing the minor labor law is to entitle the younger population to work and earn in an environment that is healthy enough to preserve their basic rights without affecting their pedagogics and schooling.

In 1995, California introduced another law of Omnibus Child labor in order to establish a coordination between the state law and federal legislature to prevent exploitation of the minors.

These laws provide guidance about the ages of the child that are allowed to work along with the time and type of work that can be assigned to minors. Speaking in general terms, those who are categorized under 13 years of age do not have the right to work except under certain conditions. Those who fall between 14-15 years of age are given authorization to work but for a limited span of hours due to their formal education. Youth with 16-17 years of age are granted permission to work but refrained to put hands in an obvious risky job.

Who is Minor According to California Child Labor Law

Any person who is under 18 years of age intended to attend his schooling and training under the allowance of the California Education Code and any individual under 6 years of age. It also embodies any non-citizen who is not eligible to pursue education under the provision of California Education Code.

A broader spectrum of California Labor law is based on its wage order as any individual who falls under the age of 18.

Almost all the subjects of 18 years of age are lay open to California child labor law. However only those who have accomplished any graduation or equivalent degree are entirely exempted from working hours limitations, though wage orders cannot be escaped.

Employment Permits / Work Certificates 

A work permit is an authorization required by California to permit a person of 18 years of age to grip a job. Under usual circumstances, these work permits are not issued for any company that may not be able to uphold minor’s rights in the matter of health or may hinder minor’s education.

With a few exceptions, all minors have permission to work including the following.

• A trainee in a bonafide internship and training program
• Plans of emancipation for minors
• Except for agriculture and domestic labor, minors are allowed to get employed by their legal parents or guardians in commercial enterprises without any restriction to wage or duty hour.
• Any minor who is attending school or a private learning program should get a written letter from the Principal or any local institute district where the minor resides. If the school session is not running, then the minor’s previous academic report and health approval certificates are mandatory.
• Any minor who is not a citizen of California if fulfills eligibility criteria.
• Minors already enrolled in Work Experience Education program

Division of Labor Standards Enforcement inspects the minor physically to declare him fit for his duties assigned.

Acquiring a California Working Permit for Minors 

The California Department of Labor will issue a work permit or by contacting school management that will directly grant an employment certificate that will explicitly explain and fulfill minors criteria for any job.

Maximum Working Hours for Minors

Firm and tough restrictions are imposed by federal and state regulatory authority regarding the working hours of minors under 18 years of age.

California child labor law ensures that minors under 18 years of age are compatible to the type of job they are doing, managing school and individual safety. There are generally increased limitations and restrictions on the maximum number of working hours for any minor.

California’s Limitations on the Working Hours for Minors

A number of limitations regarding number of working days, number of working hours and time allotted for change of shift is fixed for the minors by state law. Following is the abstract of some vital restrictions.

Age approval certificate in California

Unlike other states who require a certificate of age declaration from the minors before assigning them any job, California Labor Law freed the youth from the provision of this certificate who wants to work in California. Employers are to decide and look forward to whom to hire keeping the federal and state law minor labor laws and restrictions. 

Legitimate and restricted Occupations for minors

Even though the state has permitted the minors to work, still some jobs are still not permissible for them. All occupations that are mentioned in the Federal Legislature as hazardous for the younger individuals or tends to cause any harm to their physical health and wellbeing are prohibited for the minors.

List of the jobs not legitimate for minors under 16 years of age

• Any job declared hazardous for minors under 16 years of age or detrimental for their health and wellbeing particularly use of specific agriculture tools
• Any job that is declared harmful for the youth of ages between 16 to 18 that may affect their physical and mental well being
• Job in the vicinity of boilers or running engines
• Any work that needs ladder or any related tool
• Baking and freezing, work related to meat grinding
• Any job in the warehouses
• Work in the manufacturing industry or mining 
• Driving a vehicle or a tractor both as a driver or a passenger

These are some of the instances from an extended list of prohibited occupations for the minors under California labor law for minors. So before hiring any individual for a job, employers must check the list of occupations that can be availed keeping in view the age of the applicant just to ensure that a minor is working in an authorized occupation.

Employment of Minors in the Entertainment Industry

Any company or organization that utilizes the efforts of minors in filming or videotaping utilizing any format (commercial, theatre or television program), recording and modeling and a lot of other performances that are meant to entertain the public is termed as Entertainment Industry by the state of California.

Under the federal laws, a minor cannot work more than 8 hours in a single day or 48 hours per week in any entertainment industry. They are only permitted to work from 5 am to 10 pm or till 12:30 on any day prior to non-school day.

Minors should be employed in the entertainment industry through an application issued by DLSE to make it legitimate employment.

DLSE issues two basic working permits.

• Individual Permit is granted for a period of 6 months for the minor mentioned in the application and must need renewal within this period under the same terms and conditions as before.
• Blank Permits are granted for a number of minors usually groups who are employed for a noteworthy and special event. This type of permit is issued for an extended period of time.

A bill 2396 was passed by California Assembly in 2013 which formulated that any infant can be presented in the movie or theatre. However, the above condition can only be met if an authorized statement meeting the criteria of labor code §1308.8 are met. For example, a child specialist must certify that the infant was born normal, having normal birth weight, having the ability to absorb stressful environment of film featuring; above all the infant is 15 days old which is vital enough for infant’s involvement in the industry.

Employing minors for Door to Door Sale

California legislation intends to attain the registration of the employer or a supervisor who is employing a minor under 16 years of age for door to door sales that is away of 10 miles from the minor’s residence. Registrants must adhere to the laws founded by the state and federal body in employment of the minors, their maximum wages, term of hiring and conditions that may have a bad effect on their wellbeing and safety measures.

Recounting the Record 

A vigorous and powerfully built record system is maintained by the state of California. As per California DLSE, employers should have a record of employees on their files. These records must be available at all times and can be accessed by school administrative authorities or DLSE personals any time. Failure to produce the employee record is apparently ostensible and assumed as unlawful employment of the minors. Names, ages and addresses of all the minors employed in a company should be maintained and upheld for a period of three years with a special focus on the wage record on the orders of Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order.

Penalties and Punishments

California Child Labor Law states two types of penalties upon violation of minor’s labor law.

Class A penalty

The more intense penalty for those who are involved in employing underage children for hazardous and risky occupations. Employers are charged with $5000 to $10 000 on every single violation.

Class B Penalty

This penalty is specified for those who violate the labor code section that involves hiring of minors in entertainment industries that may put harmful effects on the minor state of mind and other health and security issues other than type A violations. Class B penalty also charges the guilty of amount $500 to $10 000 for every single violation.

Other civil penalties may include;

•  Failure in the payment of wage
• Failure to establish workers’ compensation insurance of health and other privileges
• Failure in statement of deduction documentation

Child labor law violation is a crime, it is a misconduct that may cause the guilty to endure punishment of 6 months in the jail confined within the state or maybe punished by charging him up to $10000 or sometimes both.

Accountability for Child Labor Penalties

Any person who fails to uphold the state child labor law while employing a minor is liable to penalty. This means that any individual who hires an underage minor for any hazardous and risky job and occupation, irrespective of how volitional the task is, is accountable for Class A penalties. Similarly, any person who permits the minor to engage in such harmful job is also liable for Class A penalty. This class of penalty gets an extension of employing an underage over all federally operated occupations within the state of California.

Real property owners who take extra advantage of the minors’ labor, whether not the employer himself, are accountable for all the civil penalties.

Legal parents and guardians are liable for criminal and civil violation if they allow their minors to get unauthorized and unlawful employment in the entertainment industry.

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Under 12 Years Old

According to the California child labor laws, all children under the age of 12 cannot be employed at all except under very special circumstances. The children who are between the ages of twelve and sixteen can be employed in certain jobs. The laws also stipulate that these children can only be employed for limited numbers of hours.

The children who are between sixteen years and eighteen years can be employed for a limited number of hours provided their working environments are not hazardous. Even these laws are very strict there are some exceptions such as when employed by parents and aforementioned child actors.

Agriculture

These laws are different when it comes to agricultural employment. In this category of employment, the children who are above 12 years and above can be employed for a limited number of hours provided their parents approves. The laws state that this type of employment can only happen after school hours.

This is meant to ensure that the children get time to attend school. Children working in agricultural jobs in California are usually exposed to various kinds of harm such as the pest sides used on plants. These hazards usually increase the chances of these children being affected by various health conditions.

In fact, most of the children who work in agricultural jobs usually do not complete high school. Such children are also compelled to work for longer hours where they at times work for more than ten hours. It is the duty of the employer to ensure that the children who work in such jobs are not exploited.

Child Actors

When it comes to child actors there are also concerns that the children might be exploited. The laws allow the parents to control the earnings of the children who are acting. This is helpful especially because some of these children make substantial amounts of money. In some cases, the earning made by children who act usually leads to bitter disputes in case of a divorce.

Most of these California laws are usually complemented by the state laws for children who are employed. The laws which are stricter are the ones which are usually applied in case of a dispute.

In case one intends to employ a child it is advisable to consult a qualified attorney. This is because the attorney will have a better understanding of the California child labor laws. Therefore, understanding these labor laws meant for children can significantly help in avoiding the legal issues that might arise from not following the set laws while employing children.

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According to the same Act, children aged between 12 and 16 can only work in selected occupations for limited hours whereas those aged between 16 and 18 are allowed to work for an unlimited number of hours provided they are not working in hazardous occupations.

State Laws

In addition to the federal regulations, various states have formulated laws that mirror and add to the same. As for the situations where the state and federal standards differ, the rules that best protect child workers take precedence.

As for a case where an employer operates an interstate business, the employees are covered by both the federal laws and the applicable state laws. The employer should, therefore, make an effort to familiarize themselves with and adhere to federal and applicable state laws.

Exceptions

In addition to employment by parents, an underage worker can be employed in the following occupations for unlimited hours outside of school hours as long as the parents grant their permission:

• Agricultural sector; an employer can engage a child aged 12 and above for unlimited hours (outside school hours) provided the parent grants permission.
• Newspaper delivery; minors employed to deliver newspapers to consumers are exempt from FLSA child labor and the wage and hours regulations.
• Acting profession; the law allows underage children to work as child actors. Some states, nevertheless, require such actors to have a permit and written consent from parents or guardian while others do not.

Dangers of Bridging the Law

Despite the presence of adequate regulations on child labor in the US, there are still undesirable consequences of underage workers. Some employees exploit some of the exceptions in the federal laws leading to adverse effects of child labor.

For instance, many children who work in agricultural occupations end up dropping out of school besides being exposed to risks that substantially increase their rate of fatalities. Some employers even take advantage of minors by duping them into working long hours per day reducing their activity performance in school.

The Takeaway

While state regulations tend to be similar to the federal laws, it is always advisable to seek expert advice. So, any employer who is considering employing an underage worker should first consult a seasoned local attorney. The attorney will provide valuable information on how to hire, remunerate and ensure the engagement is within the law.

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