Now’s the Time to Brush Up on Teen
Work Rules
Reason: The U.S. Labor Department is taking
the issue seriously. Child-labor investigations by the
government reached a five-year high last year. Among its latest
enforcement tactics:
• The
“Safe Child” initiative asks school districts to
identify local companies that hire lots of teenagers. Then the
agency works with the companies—keeping a watchful eye on
compliance.
• The
new “YouthRules” campaign has been launched with a
Web site, www.youthrules.dol.gov, that aims to educate your
potential hires and their parents about child labor rules.
Teens are a great source of labor,
especially for companies that employ seasonal workers during
the summer and winter. But the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) sets strict limits on their hours and jobs, and those
limits are different during school months and nonschool months.
In most cases, children ages 13 and under
are off-limits to employers. Youths ages 14 and 15 may
work outside of school hours in various jobs (except
manufacturing, mining and hazardous positions, but their hours
are limited to:
• 8
hours on a nonschool day; and 40 hours in a nonschool week.
• 3
hours on a school day; 18 hours in a school week.
• Between
7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (except from June 1 through Labor Day, when
nighttime hours are extended to 9 p.m.).
Under a special provision, however, 14- and
15-year olds enrolled in an approved Work Experience and Career
Exploration Program may be employed for up to 23 hours during a
school week and 3 hours on each school day.
The FLSA says 16- and 17-year-olds may
work unlimited hours. But they still can’t perform
certain hazardous jobs. (Go to
www.dol.gov/esa/summer/guide/flsa.htm for a list of off-limit
jobs.) Once workers reach age 18, they can work any job for
unlimited hours.
Many states also have their own child labor
laws. They often mirror the federal FLSA, but some are more
restrictive and you must follow the stricter of the two. Check
your state law at www.dol.gov/esa and click on “State
Labor Laws.”
While federal law doesn’t require
work permits or proof-of-age certificates, many states do
require them. Go to www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/certification.htm.
Staff Matters
Getting Your Feet Wet
in the Labor Pool
By Stephen O’Connor
Our daughter, Kelly, graduated with honors
from the University of Michigan on April 27. To say we are
proud of her is the understatement of the century. Her
optimism, tenacity and genuine love of life are a joy to
behold. Look out world, here comes Kelly O’Connor! Brace
yourself.
Kelly, like most new graduates, will be
entering career employment soon and may need a crash
orientation to the cryptic lexicon of the corporate world. To
help new graduates along, the Motivational
Manager lists a few common business
phrases that require translation. We’re looking into it
means don’t mention it again. It’s under
consideration means we’ve never heard of it. It’s
under active consideration means we’ve never heard of it,
but we’re looking for the files. It’s in
development means we’ve heard of it but we have no idea
what it means. We’re consulting with an expert means
we’re searching back issues of the Wall Street Journal.
We’re waiting for sign-off means we’re looking for
a fall guy. We’re ironing out the kinks means it’s
not going well. We’re considering our options means
we’re looking for the easiest out.
There is some helpful information available
from Donald Asher in his article entitled, “Building
Better Assimilation Programs: Five Keys to Success,”
which appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of Career Planning and Employment. Asher suggests that recent college graduates
can have a difficult time adjusting to full-time work. They are
used to regular feedback in the form of papers and tests and in
advancing from one level to the next on a predictable schedule. He
recommends employers consider four approaches to managing the
new grad.
Job Rotations — Move new college hires throughout the
organization, letting them try different jobs. This will give
them an opportunity to learn the organization, inside and out,
as well as help them find a position that fits their skills and
interests.
Mini-promotions — The prospect of doing the same job in the same
location for more than a semester may be a tough adjustment at
first. Give them some recognition relatively quickly. A slight
raise in salary, a more senior job title or a new assignment
with more responsibility can make the first month easier to
manage psychologically.
Mentoring programs — Newcomers can benefit from a relationship with a
seasoned veteran who can answer questions and provide advice.
Mentors should be volunteers and work outside the
person’s department to be most effective.
Socialization — New employees may be shy around older, more
established colleagues. Create opportunities for graduates to
interact with the rest of the staff.
As Kelly and the rest of her graduating
class trade their sweats and denim for a gray business suit and
sensible shoes, they will come to appreciate those three little
words that their parents will whisper to them at commencement:
student loan payments.
Early Work Experience Counts
New research findings from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics (BLS) confirm that it’s important to get
your employment message to teens early on. Reason: Youths who
start working at an early age develop stronger attachments to
the workplace and are more likely to continue working and
advancing as they get older.
Eighty-five percent of youths who took on
jobs like baby-sitting or lawn work at age 14 continued to work
at age 15, and 90 percent of those who worked at 15 continued
to work at 16.
Attachment to the formal-or what BLS calls
the “employee”-labor market often forms while
in high school. Nearly 65 percent of working 15-year-olds had a
formal job with an employer at some time during both the school
year and the following summer, as did 75 percent of working
16-year-olds and 8 percent of employed 17-year-olds.
The survey also found that young women were
less likely than young men to hold a job at age 15. But as the
ages increased, that gender gap disappeared. By age 17, 80
percent of both sexes held jobs.
The findings are from the National
Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which surveyed about 9,000 young
men and women born from 1980 to 1984.
Bottom line: Even odd jobs act as a
steppingstone into the labor market, so asking applicants about
their first jobs is always a good idea. To view the full BLS
report, go to http:
//stats.bls.gov/news.release/nlsyth.nr0.htm
Resumes: Ask Applicants About Teen Work
The chief of IBM’s largest unit says
she doesn’t look only for Ivy League degrees on resumes.
In fact she first looks at the number and types of jobs the
applicants took on as teens.
If entry-level jobs aren’t mentioned,
she makes a point to ask about them during the interview.
Reason: Early jobs give insight into the applicant’s
natural instincts, interests and initiatives.
Beware of Local Child Labor Laws
If you employ teenagers, familiarize
yourself with your state’s child labor laws. The owner of
28 Massachusetts Dunkin’ Donuts stores paid $150,000 to
settle claims that he broke state law by requiring workers ages
14-17 to come in as early as 4 a.m. or stay past midnight. In
Massachusetts, 14- and 15-year-olds may work between 6:30 a.m.
and 6 p.m. during the school year and until 9 p.m. during
summer, while 16- and 17-year-olds my work between 6 a.m. and
10 p.m.
Adapted from the Associated Press, The Motivational Manager, May 2020
