HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 ESHB 1030

                      As Passed House:

                      January 23, 1995

Title:  An act relating to the employment of minors.

Brief Description:  Regulating teen‑age work hours.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Commerce & Labor (originally Representatives Lisk, Carlson, Dyer, Skinner, Cooke, Schoesler, Thompson, Goldsmith, Chandler, Basich, Foreman, Honeyford, Hankins, D. Schmidt, Mulliken, McMorris, Clements, Fuhrman, Sheldon, L. Thomas, Huff, Silver, Buck and McMahan).

Brief History:

  Committee Activity:

Commerce & Labor:  1/11/95, 1/12/95 [DPS].

Floor Activity:

Second Reading:  1/20/95

Passed House:  1/23/95

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE & LABOR

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  Signed by 6 members:  Representatives Lisk, Chair; Hargrove, Vice Chair; Thompson, Vice Chair; Cairnes; Fuhrman and Goldsmith.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  Signed by 4 members:  Representatives Romero, Ranking Minority Member; Conway, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Cody and Cole.

Staff:  Chris Cordes (786-7117).

Background:  The Department of Labor and Industries is authorized to adopt rules establishing employment standards, including working conditions and hours of labor, for the protection of the safety, health, and welfare of employees.  In addition, the department may adopt special rules for the protection of minor employees.  The provisions granting this authority do not apply to agricultural labor, newspaper vending, or domestic or casual labor at private residences.  Employment of minors in house-to-house sales is restricted by statute.

Until July 1, 1993, the department's rules regulating the employment of minors included the following restrictions:

Minors 16 or 17 years of age:  a maximum of eight hours per day and five days per week; and no work after 9:00 p.m. on two consecutive nights preceding school days.

Minors under age 16:  a maximum of three hours per day on school days and 18 hours per week during school weeks; a maximum of eight hours per day on nonschool days and five days per week; and no work before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m., except during summer vacation when work must end by 9:00 p.m.

On July 1, 1993, revised rules providing for the employment of minors became effective.  These rules include the following:

Minors 16 or 17 years of age:  a maximum of four hours per day on a school day preceding a school day, eight hours per day on other days, 20 hours during a school week and six days per week. With a variance, these limits may be extended to a maximum of six hours per day on a school day preceding a school day and 28 hours per week.  No work is permitted before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m. on a day preceding a school day, or after midnight on Friday, Saturday, or the day before a holiday.

During school vacations, a maximum of eight hours per day and 48 hours per week is permitted, for up to six days per week.  Work may not start before 5:00 a.m. or end after midnight.

Minors under age 16:  a maximum of three hours per day on a school day preceding a school day, eight hours per day on other days, 16 hours during a school week, and  six days per week.  No work is permitted before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. on a day preceding a school day.  On Friday, Saturday, or a day preceding a school holiday, work must end by 9:00 p.m.  An ending time of 9:00 p.m. is permitted during school vacations.

During school vacations, a maximum of eight hours per day and 40 hours per week is permitted, up to six days per week.

The revised rules also changed the regulation of employment of minors in hazardous occupations.

The U.S. Department of Labor has established child labor standards under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.  These standards restrict the employment of minors in certain hazardous occupations.  In addition, the federal standards limit the employment of minors under age 16 to three hours on school days, eight hours on nonschool days, 18 hours per week during school weeks, and 40 hours per week during school vacations.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

Authority of the Department of Labor and Industries to adopt special rules.  Provisions are deleted that give the Department of Labor and Industries authority to adopt special rules for the protection of the safety, health, and welfare of minors employed in nonagricultural and other covered employments.

Work rules for minors under age 16.  For unemancipated minors under the age of 16, the following work rules are specified for covered employments:

!work may not exceed three hours per day on school days, eight hours per day on nonschool days, or 18 hours per week when school is in session.

!work may not exceed eight hours per day or 40 hours per week when school is not in session.

!if working after 8:00 p.m in service occupations, the minor must be supervised by an adult on the premises.

!no more than five hours of work may be performed without a meal period of at least thirty minutes. Rest periods of at least ten minutes are required in every four-hour work period.

!work is prohibited during school hours unless special permission has been granted by school officials.

!during the school year, work is prohibited before 7:00 a.m. and after 7:00 p.m.

!during summer vacation, work is prohibited before 7:00 a.m. and after 9:00 p.m.

Work rules for minors age 16 and 17.  For minors age 16 or 17, the hours of employment are restricted only as follows:

!work may not exceed a total of 24 hours per week during the school year or 48 hours per week during school vacations.  The minor's school may grant a variance permitting up to 32 hours per week during the school year.

!work may not exceed 10 hours per day on school days or on days during school vacations.

!when school is in session, no more than 6 days per week may be worked.

Hazardous occupations.  All covered minors are prohibited from employment in occupations determined  to be unreasonably hazardous.  In adopting rules, the department may not restrict employment beyond the restrictions established in federal law as of January 1, 1994, except the following employments are prohibited:

!occupations where there is a risk of exposure to bodily fluids or transmission of infectious agents, unless minor is in health care training or is a state-certified life guard with first aid training.

!occupations involving potential exposure to hazardous substances considered to be carcinogenic, corrosive, highly toxic, or determined to cause reproductive health effects or irreversible end organ damage, unless exposure is not greater than exposure during normal consumer use of the product. 

!employment in sauna or massage parlors, body painting or tatoo studios, or adult entertainment establishments.

Other provisions.  One of two provisions requiring employers to obtain minor work permits is repealed.  A requirement in the repealed section for employers to keep work permits on file during the employment of minors is retained.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Requested on January 6, 1995.

Effective Date of Substitute Bill:  The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.

Testimony For:  The work rules established by the Department of Labor and Industries make it difficult for businesses to employ persons under the age of 18.   The paperwork required by these rules is onerous.  Working is good for students, and these rules result in fewer opportunities for students to work.  This does not provide consistent signals to youth and reduces our ability to address youth violence and related issues.  Minors, in conjunction with their parents, schools, and employers, are fully able to make responsible choices about the hours they work.  It is not necessary for government to regulate these family decisions.

Testimony Against:  These rules do not prohibit minors from working, but protect them from pressure by an employer to work more hours than they should.  Students have many responsibilities besides work.  Students who work more than 15 hours per week have been shown to have more problems in school.  The majority of students do not use money earned in part time jobs for college, but use it for the purchase of consumer goods instead.  Safety is also an issue, because students working long hours have a higher incidence of accidents on the job.  The Department of Labor and Industries' study is not surprising when it shows that 82 percent of employers who hire minors were not impacted by the new rules.  The state should not change the work rules before there is time to study the long term impacts on work skills.  The department is continuing its study of these issues.

Testified:  (In favor)  Gary Webster, Business Coalition of Central Washington; Rick Homer, DB's Restaurants; Michael Mercy, Yakima Theaters; Louie Meissner, Pasco Chamber of Commerce; Don Heitmann, Twin City Foods Incorporated; Ben Kym, Red Robin Restaurant Association; Roxy Johnson, Burgerville U.S.A.; Ted Lewis, Crystal Mountain Resort; Cliff Webster, Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association; Jackie Godbey, Burgerville U.S.A.; Mike McKinnon, Dairy Queen; Margie Milligan, Dairy Queen; Kit Hawkins, Restaurant Association; Clif Finch, Association of Washington Business; Lisa Thatcher, Washington State Food Dealers; Becky Bogard, Washington State Hotel/Motel Association; and Jeff Cox, Washington Retail Association.

(Opposed) Rosalio Valenzuela; Susan Quattrociocchi, Northeast Tech Prep Consortia; Dan Sexton; Jeff Johnson and Robby Stern, Washington State Labor Council; and Puola Maranan, Washington Children's Alliance.

(Information only) Mike Watson and Suzanne Mager, Department of Labor and Industries.