Summer Vacation and Jobs for Youths
It’s summertime, and the living is…rough (sorry ’bout that, Cole Porter).
At least it might be in this day and age of a diminished, threatened economy.
Still, summer resorts and vacation destinations will be looking to beef up their ranks to cope with a hoped-for throng of visitors ready to plop down their hard-earned greenbacks for some summertime fun. This usually means hiring teenagers from the local economy to help with the extra diners and travelers.
But if you’re hiring teenagers (those under 18 anyway), you need to be aware of federal and state laws that regulate their employment.
The 1938 landmark legislation known as the FLSA, or the Fair Labor Standards Act, was the first federal initiative to regulate child labor. It established specific standards for hours that teenagers can work, both in terms of duration and time of day. The FLSA also forbids the employment of anyone younger than 14 except in odd jobs or in special circumstances, such as delivering newspapers, serving as batboys and batgirls, babysitting and doing odd chores. However, parents are free to work their children in their own businesses, but of course, cannot abuse this freedom.
Youths aged 14 and 15 are allowed to work outside of school hours in most jobs except manufacturing, mining and other hazardous occupations. During the school year, they can work three hours a day for a total of 18 hours a week between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. When school is out, established by the FLSA as between June 1 and Labor Day, the nighttime hours are extended to 9 p.m., while total hours per day rise to eight and hours per week to 40.
Youth 14 and 15 years old enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career Exploration Program (WECEP) may be employed for up to 23 hours in school weeks and 3 hours on school days, including during school hours.
An example of a WECEP program description is as follows: A program for 14- and 15-year-old dropout-prone youth that combines paid work experience with career-oriented educational and motivational opportunities that encourage both completion of education and preparation for the world of work.
Except for the same restrictions on hazardous jobs, teenagers aged 16 and 17 can work any job for unlimited hours. However, some states have adopted stricter laws on child employment and on hours that can be worked, so you must follow whichever set of rules is stricter—the state or the federal.
The federal government does not require work permits or proof of age, but many states do, so it’s best to check with the state before hiring teenagers.
Of course, once a person reaches the age of 18, all teenage restrictions are dropped and he or she can work in any job for any amount of time, so long as the company follows minimum-wage and overtime laws also established by the FLSA.
The Department of Labor (DOL) will be guarding the nation’s youth through its “Safe Child” program, which asks local school districts for lists of companies employing teenagers and then tracks those companies.
For more information on FLSA and DOL regulations, visit the Web sit www.youthrules.dol.gov. For a list of prohibited teenage jobs, visit www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/hazardousjobs.htm. To check state labor laws, go to www.dol.gov/dol/topic/youthlabor/Statelaborlaws.htm.
About the author:
Gary McCarty is a researcher and Web Content Manager for Personnel Concepts.
