Beware of the Child Labor Crackdown: How to Ethically & Legally Hire Minors

Over the past year, newspapers have been filled with headlines about a surge in child labor violations across the United States.  The headlines are on to something. Overall, child labor violations have more than tripled in the past 10 years, with violations in food service increasing almost sixfold, according to the Washington Post. In the first nine months of 2023, agency officials found more than 4,700 teenagers under 18 working in violation of federal child labor laws — more than three-quarters of those in food service.

What is fueling the increase in violations?

Companies have not fully recovered from the widespread labor shortages of the pandemic. In response, many companies have, out of necessity, expanded their hiring practices to categories of highly regulated workers—including minors. Hiring minors is not unlawful, but there are special rules that apply, and many employers don’t know the rules.

The rules controlling minor employees are not that complex, but they are plentiful. Learning these rules can be a timely process. Well-meaning companies can easily run afoul of child labor regulations unless they pay close attention to the regulations and develop internal processes for managers to ensure those regulations are followed.

To jumpstart your learning process, this article provides an overview of federal child labor regulations. In addition, we will review Connecticut’s regulations as an example of how state regulations interact with federal regulations.

The Federal Regulations

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the child labor regulations, issued at 29 CFR Part 570, establish both hours and occupational standards for minors. The federal regulations vary by age.

State Regulations – Connecticut

In addition to the federal requirements, companies must abide by the state regulations on child labor. Your particular state may or may not have regulations on minors. If your state does have regulations, the state regulations will be more restrictive than the federal law. Therefore, it is imperative you check your state’s child labor laws. As an example of how federal and state laws commingle, below are Connecticut’s regulations. Brace yourself—the regulations are plentiful!

Connecticut’s Child Labor Requirements

As you can see, Connecticut’s regulations are a lot more restrictive than the federal law. Across the country, Southern states are more apt to have no or few laws for working minors. The Northern, West Coast and industrial states are closer to Connecticut.  That is why it is important for you to check your state’s rules.

Let’s now run through an example. You own a fast-food restaurant in Connecticut. Lately, you have been having a very hard time recruiting and retaining crew. You recently decided to consider job applicants who are sixteen years old. You recently had an applicant who seems promising for a cashier position. The applicant is enrolled in high school. What restrictions, both federal and state, will be placed on this applicant if hired?

First, you must identify what protections the specific minor is entitled to. In Connecticut, the following factors are key:

1. Age: How old is the employee? In this case, the prospective employee is 16; because the prospective employee is 16, the more stringent requirements for 14- and 15-year-olds is avoided.
2. Establishment: In what type of establishment will the minor be employed? Here, it is Restaurants. When looking at time restrictions, you must reference the specific establishment type.
3. Job: What job will the minor perform? If it is “dangerous,” minors are generally not permitted to perform it. Here, the minor will be a cashier—cashier is not considered a “dangerous” job.
4. School Enrollment: Is the minor enrolled in secondary school? Here, the minor is still in high school and, therefore, subject to more restrictive regulations.

The following lists the federal and state restrictions.

You must comply with both the federal and the state regulations. Where federal and state regulations contradict, you should comply with the most restrictive law.

In addition, employers should consider implementing regular audits of minor’s hours. This is especially true when management is new. Also, consider ideas such as giving minors a uniform that is different from the rest of the crew (e.g., a uniquely colored hat). This will ensure managers can immediately realize they are dealing with a minor and therefore certain requests, like working late or on a dangerous machine, should be avoided.

Brody and Associates regularly advises management on complying with the latest state and federal employment laws. The subject matter of this post can be very technical. It is also very fact specific. Our goal is to alert you to some of the new laws and trends which may impact your business.  It is not intended to serve as legal advice. We encourage you to seek competent legal counsel before implementing any of the new policies or practices discussed above.  If we can be of assistance, please contact us at info@brodyandassociates.com or 203.454.0560.