California's child labor laws are designed to help young people acquire income and work experience, while safeguarding their physical well-being and scholastic advancement. Child labor laws protect minors by restricting the kinds of work and establishments in which they may be employed, and by limiting work hours.
Exemption: Child labor laws don't prohibit or prevent employment
of minors of any age by their parents, if the work -- in any
task -- involves agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, or
domestic labor, and, for school age minors, is performed when
school is not in session, or outside school hours. This exemption
applies only for work exclusively done "on or in connection
with premises owned, operated, or controlled by the parent."
Neither a "Permit to Work" or Permit to Employ"
is needed for minors employed by parents in agricultural work
on premises owned, operated, or controlled by the parent.
California law bars minors under 12 from working, or accompanying
an employed parent (guardian), in an "agricultural danger
zone," including on or about moving equipment, or around
unprotected chemicals or water hazards, and other hazards that
constitute a zone of danger as may be determined in the future
by California's Labor Commissioner. Minors under 12 are also
prohibited from working or accompanying an employed parent in
jobs declared by the U.S. Secretary of Labor as hazardous and
prohibited to minors under 16 (Table 1).
Minors ages 12 and 13 may not be employed or permitted to work
in occupations declared hazardous in federal regulation for minors
under 16 in agriculture (Table 1) or in any occupation determined
by state law or regulation as hazardous. These minors may be
employed in permitted agricultural occupations outside school
hours with parent/guardianís written consent or on the
same farm employing the parent/guardian. The allowed spread of
hours is 7 am - 7 pm (-9 pm June 1 through Labor Day).
Minors ages 14 and 15 may not be employed or permitted to work in agricultural occupations declared hazardous in federal regulations for minors under 16 (Table 1).
MAY NOT BE EMPLOYED OR PERMITTED TO WORK IN
AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS DECLARED HAZARDOUS IN FEDERAL REGULATION FOR MINORS UNDER 16:
Operating a tractor of over 20 PTO horsepower, or connecting or disconnecting an implement or any of its parts to or from such a tractor.
Operating or assisting to operate (including starting, stopping, adjusting, feeding, or any other activity involving physical contact associated with the operations) any of the following machines:
Operating or assisting to operate (including starting, stopping adjusting, feeding or any other activity involving physical contact associated with the operation) any of the following machines:
Working on a farm in a yard, pen or stall occupied
by a:
Working from a ladder or scaffold (painting, repairing
or building structures, pruning trees, picking fruit, etc.) from
a height of over 20 feet.
Driving a bus, truck or automobile when transporting
passengers or riding on a tractor as a passenger or helper.
Working inside:
Handling or applying (including cleaning or decontaminating
equipment, disposal or return of empty containers, or serving
as a flagman for aircraft applying agricultural chemicals classified
under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act as
Category I of toxicity, identified by the word, "poison,"
and the "skull and crossbones" on the label; or Category
II of toxicity, identified by the word, "warning," on
the label;
Handling or using a blasting agent including but
not limited to dynamite black powder, sensitized ammonium nitrate,
blasting caps, and primer cord; or
Transporting, transferring, or applying anhydrous
ammonia.
When school is not in session, minors 14 and 15 may work up to 8 hours per day and a maximum 40 hours per week. When school is in session these minors may work up to 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a nonschool day, up to a maximum of 18 hours weekly, but all hours must be outside school hours. The spread of hours is the same as for minors ages 12 and 13. Parent permission is not required.
Sixteen is the minimum age that minors may be employed or permitted to perform any type of mechanical work. Minors ages 16 and 17 may not be employed in forklift driving, operating circular or band saws, or driving a motor vehicle on public roads.
Minors ages 16 and 17 may generally work up to 8 hours on nonschool days or schooldays preceding a nonschool day, and 4 hours on a school day, up to 48 hours per week. A "school day" means any day with at least 4 hours of required attendance. The spread of hours is 5 am - 10 pm (-12:30 am on days preceding a nonschool day).
Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds employed in agricultural packing plants during the peak harvest season may work up to 10 hours on any day that school is not in session. Such employment requires a special permit granted by the Labor Commissioner to the employer operating the packing plant. Permits may only be granted if they do not materially affect the safety and welfare of minor employees and will prevent undue hardship on the employer. The Labor Commissioner may require an inspection of a packing plant prior to granting the permit. Permits may be revoked after reasonable notice is given in writing or immediately if any of its terms or conditions are violated. Applications must be made on a form provided by the Labor Commissioner, and a copy must be posted at the place of employment at the time the application is submitted.
Persons under 21 may not be hired to transport hazardous materials.
Employers must have a Permit to Employ on file and available for inspection by labor and school officials at all times. (Permits to Work and Permits to Employ are actually issued on the same form.) Permits are always required ó even during school vacation. Permits are issued for specific employment at a specified address.
No permit is issued until a request from the parent (guardian) has been filed with the local school district where the minor currently resides. The minorís parent (guardian) must accompany the minor to give evidence of age to the person issuing permits.
Permits contain the maximum number of hours a minor may work in a day, the range of hours during the day that a minor may work, any occupational limitations, and any additional restrictions imposed at the schoolís discretion.
Minors visiting from another state (or country, if eligible to
work in the United States) who wish to work in California must
possess a California Permit to Work, and their employers must
have the Permit to Employ. These permits may be issued by the
local school district in which the minor will reside while visiting.
Minors must be paid at least the minimum wage and applicable overtime rates established by the California Industrial Welfare Commission and provided written deduction statements. All employers must comply with the working conditions requirements in the Industrial Welfare Commission Orders, which include, for example, meal and rest periods.
Employers must keep minorsí work permits and permits to
employ accessible to government officers during the minorís
employment term. Employers of minors must keep for three years
a record showing the names, ages (dates of birth), and addresses
of all minors employed as well as time and payroll records required
by the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission Order.
Child labor penalties apply to employers hiring minors directly, "indirectly through third parties," and those owning or controlling the real property on which the minor is employed, regardless of whether the owner is the employer, if employment is "for such ownerís benefit," and (s)he knowingly permits a violation or its continuation.
The state of California provides two types of civil penalties for violations of child labor laws, Class A and Class B.
Class A violations are the more severe, generally involving underage employment in hazardous occupations. A minor under 12 accompanying an employed parent in an agricultural zone of danger is a Class A violation. Class A violations incur penalties of not less than $5,000 and up to $10,000 for each and every violation.
Class B violations carry civil penalties of not less than $500
and up to $1,000 for each and every violation. Examples include
violations involving work permits and hours of work.
The DIR Division of Labor Standards Enforcement now provides on-line access to its current FARM LABOR CONTRACTOR LICENSE DATABASE through the Internet. Growers can easily obtain basic information about FLCs with whom they are doing or contemplating business, without encountering the busy signals, delays, or other problems that sometimes hamper inquiries via telephone.
This database, with records on 903 FLCs (as of 8/13/96), is found on the World Wide Web at location (URL) http://data.dir.ca.gov/Farmtab.html. It contains, and is searchable by, each of the following data fields: FLC license number, Expiration date of current license, Name, Address, City, State, and Zip code. A search by city, for example, will return a list of all licensed FLCs with an address in a particular city. A search specifying no criteria will return a list of all licensees in the state.
The search engine allows users to also determine the basis for ordering the returned list of contractors that meet a specified criterion. So, for example, a user can have all the FLCs in a given city listed alphabetically, or by license expiration date, or by zip code, etc. Links to the FLC database and more are also available at the new website of the UC Agricultural Personnel Management Program (http://are.Berkeley.EDU/APMP/). Although still under development, this site already contains a wealth of educational material, legal and government references, research findings, practical advice, and links to other resources on management of personnel in production agriculture, with emphasis on the industry in California.