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June 13, 2023
Arkansas
Effective June 8, Arkansas enacted the Youth Hiring Act of 2023.
The Act dispenses with the requirement that the State’s Division of Labor verify the age of children under 16 years of age and issue certificates permitting them to work.
In addition to eliminating a tedious requirement, the law streamlines the hiring process and allows parents (rather than the government) to make decisions about their children. However, opponents of the law worry that removing the work certificate requirement leaves young (particularly immigrant youth) workers open to exploitation.
Iowa
Effective July 1, 2023, Iowa has expanded working hours and types of work allowed for minors. See 2023 Bill Text IA S.B. 542.
The law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work two additional hours per day (from four to six hours) when school is in session. Such workers also would be able to work until 9 p.m. most of the year and until 11 p.m. from June 1 to Labor Day – two hours later than permitted previously.
In addition to expanding their work hours, the law allows 14- and 15-year-olds to do certain types of work in industrial laundry services and in freezers and meat coolers – areas that are prohibited under current state law.
As for 16- and 17-year-olds, the law allows them to work the same hours as an adult. They also will be permitted to work in areas, like manufacturing, if such work is part of a work-based learning program that is given an exemption by the Iowa Department of Education or Iowa Workforce Development.
Workers who are 16 or 17 years old also may serve alcohol if (1) the establishment is a restaurant and the kitchen is operating; (2) the employer obtains written permission from the worker’s parent or guardian; (3) at least two adult employees are physically present when the worker is serving alcohol; (4) the employer requires the worker to attend a sexual harassment prevention training; (5) the employer agrees to notify the worker’s parent/guardian and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission if the employer becomes aware of an incident of harassment involving the worker; and (6) the employer notifies its dram shop insurance provider that it employs the worker prior to the worker beginning employment.
Like the Arkansas law, supporters of the Iowa law say that it provides opportunities for teens to earn money for school or other expenses and to gain work experience. Opponents of the law have raised concerns that some permitted work may place children in harm’s way and that the work will turn their focus away from school and extracurricular activities.
Employer Takeaways
Employers who intend to take advantage of these new child labor laws should be mindful of how they may conflict with federal law, and should be attentive to legal challenges. Specifically, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) generally prohibits the employment of 14- and 15-year-olds unless the employment is listed in the federal regulations. Iowa’s law allows work in industrial laundries, light assembly work, and work in meat freezers, though these activities are expressly prohibited under federal law. Iowa’s law also conflicts with the FLSA as to permitted work hours. The FLSA limits the hours that a 14-or 15-year old may work – i.e., no more than three hours per day on a school day, no more than 18 hours per week during the school year, and no work outside the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year. Iowa’s new law extends working hours to six hours on a school day, to 9 p.m. during the school year, and to 11 p.m. during the summer.
*Special thanks to Brooke Palma, our Office Administrator, for her contributions to this article.
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Arkansas, Iowa, or Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
