Presented By:
Susan L. Swatski, Esq.
Hill Wallack LLP
April 9, 2015
Hiring Minors
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Child Labor Laws
Wages
Record Keeping
Violations of the Child Labor Laws
Federal Fair Labor Standards Act v.
New Jersey Child Labor Law
Which law applies?
Where both the FLSA and state
child labor laws apply, the higher
minimum standard must be
obeyed.
Minimum Wage
 Federal Minimum Wage
 $7.25 per hour
 New Jersey Minimum Wage
 $8.38 per hour
 Minors under age 18 are exempted
Exceptions to Minimum Wage
Under Federal Law
 29 U.S.C.A. 213 exempts all summer
camp employees (not just minors) from
minimum wage and maximum hour
requirements
 Youth Minimum Wage
 $4.25 per hour to employees under age 20
for the first 90 consecutive calendar days of
initial employment. After 90 days, the FLSA
requires employers to pay the full federal
minimum wage ($7.25).
Federal Fair Labor Standards Act v.
New Jersey Child Labor Law
 Who can work?
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Must be at least 14 years old (NJ and FED)
Rules for Working Under Age 19
Rules for Working Under Age 18
Rules for Working Under Age 16
New Jersey’s Rules for Working
Under Age 19
 Working Under Age 19
 The employer must keep a record which states:
the name, date of birth and address of each person
under 19
 the number of hours worked by said person on each day
 the hours of beginning and ending such work
 the hours of beginning and ending meal periods the amount
of wages paid
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 The record shall be kept on file for at least 1 year
 Under Federal Law, once a minor reaches 18 years
of age, the federal child labor provisions no longer
apply to their employment.
** Note the grey area for which law applies to 18 year olds.
Rules for Working Under Age 18
 An individual cannot:
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Work for more than 8 hours a day or
more than 6 straight days in any one
week
Work more than 5 hours without at least
a 30 min. break
Work more than 40 hours in any one
week
 An individual between 16 and 18 years of age
requires written permission from their parent
to work after 11 p.m., but in no event may
such a minor work between 3 a.m. or before
6 a.m.
Rules for Working Under Age 18
 Employment Certificate (Form A300)
 Everyone under age 18 when the term of
employment starts needs to complete an
Employment Certificate
 The Certificate is obtained from the school
district where the minor resides, but if the
residence is out of state, then look to the district
in which the minor will be working
 Even if the employee worked at the camp last
year, new papers are required
 Even if the employee is working for only a few
days and worked for the camp prior years, a
certificate is still required
Rules for Working Under Age 16
 An individual cannot:
 Work before 7 a.m.
 Work after 7 p.m. unless he/she has
written parental permission
 Cannot work after 9 p.m. even with
parental permission
Posting Requirements
 Where a minor under 18 is employed,
every employer shall conspicuously post:
 A printed abstract of the Child Labor Law
 A list of occupations prohibited to such
minors (most often missed)
 Schedule of hours of labor, including:
Name of each minor under 18,
The maximum number of hours he/she shall be
required to work each day,
 The total hours per week,
 The time commencing and stopping work each
day and
 The time for the beginning and ending of the
daily meal period.
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Record Keeping of Minors Under 19
 Records must be kept on file for at least
one year after the entry of the record
 Employers must keep records of all minor
employees listing:
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Name and address,
Date of birth,
Amount of wages paid,
Number of hours worked each day,
Beginning and ending work hours for
each day and
 Beginning and ending meal or break
periods.
Violation of the
New Jersey Child Labor Law
 An employer who violates the Act shall be:
 guilty of a crime of the fourth degree
 subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than
$2,000 for an initial violation and not less than $200
nor more than $4,000 for each subsequent violation
 Each day during which any violation continues
shall constitute a separate offense
 Each minor so employed constitutes a separate
offense
 In addition, the Commissioner of Labor and
Workforce Development may assess administrative
penalties of not more than $500 for a first violation,
not more than $1,000 for a second violation, and not
more than $2,500 for each subsequent violation
Violation of the
Federal Child Labor Law
 A civil penalty of $15,000, $25,000 or
$40,000 will be assessed for each
violation that causes a serious injury
of a minor employee
 The fine depends on the severity and
permanency of the injury
 A civil penalty of $6,000, $8,000 or $10,000
will be assessed for a labor violation
resulting in a non-serious injury of a
minor employee
 The maximum penalty for a non-serious
injury is $11,000
Best Practices
for Hiring a Minor
 NJ Law Against Discrimination Applies to
Minors
 Ask the same information to/from all candidates
 Prepare a standard list of neutral questions for all
candidates
 Have the seasonal worker complete an application
that includes a Disclaimer of Employment Contract
(i.e. a statement that nothing in the application
creates an employment agreement or in any way
alters the at-will status of employment if the
candidate is hired).
 Ensure all notes are objective and job-related (notes
are discoverable)
 Handling unsolicited information: remain neutral,
don’t ask follow up questions into restricted or
potentially charged areas
Best Practices
for Hiring a Minor (continued)
 Obtain a working certificate/No
undocumented workers
 No sharing employees with neighboring
camps
 Keep the certificate on file at the
minor’s place of employment
 Require a signature for comparison
with the signature on the certificate
 Provide at least a 30 minute lunch
break
 Set up a system for documenting
time worked
Social Media: The New Water Cooler
 Have a written social media policy
 State whether and to what extent monitoring will
take place
 State the legitimate business reason for the
monitoring
 Provide examples of specific activities that may not
be posted on line (i.e. photographs of campers,
discussion of campers by name or physical
description)
 Conduct training for each employee on the social
media policy
 Require, as a condition of employment, each
employee sign off on the social media policy
 Do not ask the employee/candidate for access to
his/her social media account(s)
Non-Paid Internships
 What is an Internship
 Who Must be Paid
Criteria For An Internship
1.
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Training similar to that given in a vocational school
Academic credit
Classroom-like structure
College or university level program oversight
No displacement of regular paid workers
Close individual supervision by or shadowing of an
experienced professional
7. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the
intern’s activities
8. The internship is for the benefit of the intern
9. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job after the
internship
10. The internship should be for a fixed duration, established prior
to its outset
11. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not
entitled to wages
Best Practices for Hiring
an Unpaid Intern
Check with your insurance agent to be sure
you have adequate business liability and
worker’s compensation insurance
2. Issue the intern a copy of your employment
manual
a. Ask the intern to sign off on all company
policies and procedures
b. Provide a physical space in a professional
work environment that is in close
proximity to his/her direct supervisor
1.
Best Practices for Hiring an
Unpaid Intern (continued)
3. Provide necessary resources (e.g. desk,
phone, email address etc. )
4. Reimburse the intern for approved
expenses
5. Check with the interns’ school to find
out if the school has set internship
guidelines that must be met in order for
the student to receive academic credit
6. Only ask the intern to work the amount
of time that the company can fill with
substantive assignments, training and
activities
Volunteer
 Definition: The applicable regulation
promulgated by the Department of Labor
defines a “volunteer” to be “[a]n individual
who performs hours of service for a public
agency for civic, charitable, or humanitarian
reasons, without promise, expectation or
receipt of compensation for services
rendered....” 29 C.F.R. 553.101(a).
 Employees may not “volunteer” to perform
job-related tasks. In other words, you can’t
“volunteer” to circumvent overtime laws,
even if the employee consents.
Thank you for attending!
hillwallack.com