An Act concerning employment certificates for minors, supplementing P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), and revising various parts of the statutory law.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. No minor under 18 years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation in this State, unless and until the person employing the minor shall receive and keep on file an employment certificate for the minor, issued by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, except that this section shall not apply to the following:

(1) Employment in the occupations permitted pursuant to section 15 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.15);

(2) Employment of any minor who is 16 years of age or older in agricultural pursuits;

(3) Employment of any minor who is 14 years of age or older, during the times that the minor's school is not in session, at any agricultural fair, or horse, dog, or farm show the duration of which does not exceed 10 days; and

(4) Employment of any minor who is 15 years of age or older in the first 14 days of employment in seasonal amusement, food service, restaurant, or retail occupations, during the times that the minor's school is not in session;

b. The employment certificate required pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be issued in the form and in accordance with requirements prescribed by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The original copy of any employment certificate issued to a minor shall be forwarded to the prospective employer of the minor for whom it was issued, and duplicate copies of the employment certificate shall be retained by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and forwarded to the minor for whom it was issued.

c. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development may refuse to issue an employment certificate to any minor if, in the judgment of the department, the best interests of the minor would be served by the refusal. The department shall keep a record of any refusals and the reasons for any refusals.

d. No employment certificate, or any other permit or special permit, shall be required for any minor under 18 years of age if the minor is a high school graduate or if the minor has completed a course of study resulting in the minor's attainment of a certificate of high school equivalency.

2. (New section) a. The issuance of employment certificates shall require an application by the minor desiring employment and shall require the minor to provide documentation of the following:

(1) A promise of employment signed by the prospective employer or the prospective employer's representative or agent, setting forth the specific nature of the work in which the employer intends to employ the minor, the wage rate to be paid to the minor, and the estimated number of hours the employer intends the minor to work per week; and

(2) Evidence of the age of the minor in order to prove that the minor is of the age required by law to work.

b. Every employment certificate issued by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for a minor shall bear the minor's signature and state the following:

(1) The minor's name, sex, race, date and place of birth, address of legal residence, color of hair and eyes, height, weight, and any distinguishing facial marks of the minor;

(2) The prospective employer's name, address, type of business, and the occupation of the minor; and

(3) The type of evidence of age submitted in the application for the employment certificate.

c. The employment certificate issued for a minor pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall serve as conclusive evidence of the age of the minor in any proceeding involving the employment of the minor under P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), the workers' compensation law (R.S.34:15-1 et seq.), or any other labor law of the State.

3. (New section) a. An employment certificate shall be valid only for the prospective employer indicated on the employment certificate and only for the occupation designated in the promise of employment signed by the prospective employer or the prospective employer's representative or agent.

b. Every employer that receives an employment certificate shall, throughout the duration of the minor's employment, keep the employment certificate on file at the place of employment and accessible to any inspection by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The failure of any employer to produce for inspection the employment certificate of a minor shall be prima facie evidence of the unlawful employment of the minor. The presence of any minor under 18 years of age shall be prima facie evidence of the employment of the minor, except that the presence on any farm or place of agricultural pursuit of any minor shall not constitute prima facie evidence. The provisions of this subsection b. shall not apply to any employer that employs a minor who is exempt from the requirement to obtain an employment certificate pursuant to subsection d. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

c. Every employer that receives an employment certificate shall, within seven calendar days after termination of the minor's employment, return the employment certificate to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. A new employment certificate shall not be issued for the minor except upon presentation of a new promise of employment signed by the prospective employer or the prospective employer's representative or agent.

4. Section 1 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1) is amended to read as follows:

1. (a) ["Employment certificate" means a certificate granted by the issuing officer authorizing the employment of a child as permitted under this act.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)

(b) "Age certificate" means a certificate issued for a person between the ages of 18 and 21 years.

(c) ["Issuing officer" means any superintendent of schools, supervising principal, or teacher in a school district who is designated by the board of education in the district to issue certificates or permits in accordance with the provisions of this act.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)

(d) "School district" means any geographical area having authority over the public schools within that area.

(e) "Agriculture" includes farming in all its branches and among other things includes the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural or horticultural commodities (including commodities defined as agricultural commodities in subsection (g) of section 15 of the Agricultural Marketing Act, 46 Stat. 11 (12 U.S.C. s. [141] 1141 et seq.), as amended), the planting, transplanting and care of trees and shrubs and plants, the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals or poultry, and any practices (including any forestry or lumbering operations) performed by a farmer or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market, provided that such practices shall be performed in connection with the handling of agricultural or horticultural commodities the major portion of which have been produced upon the premises of an owning or leasing employer.

(f) "Newspaper carrier" means any minor between 12 and 18 years of age who engages in the occupation of delivering, soliciting, selling and collecting for, newspapers outside of school hours on residential routes.

(g) "Restaurant" means any establishment or business primarily engaged in the preparation and serving of meals or refreshments, both food and drink, and shall include but not be limited to the following: dining establishments, catering establishments, industrial caterers, and drive-in restaurants.

(h) "Theatrical production" means and includes stage, motion picture and television performances and rehearsals therefor.

(i) "Seasonal amusement" means any exclusively recreational or amusement establishment or business which does not operate more than seven months in any calendar year or which has received during any consecutive six months of the preceding calendar year average receipts equal to or less than 33 1/3% percent of its average receipts for the other six months of that year. "Seasonal amusement" includes but is not limited to amusement rides and amusement device ticket sales, and operations of games. However, "seasonal amusement" does not include retail, eating or drinking concessions, camps, beach and swimming facilities, movie theatres, theatrical productions, athletic events, professional entertainment, pool and billiard parlors, circuses and outdoor shows, sport activities or centers, country club athletic facilities, bowling alleys, race tracks and like facilities which are not part of a diversified amusement enterprise.

(cf:P.L.1987, c.125, s.1)

5. Section 3 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.3) is amended to read as follows:

3. Except as provided in section 15 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.15) and except for domestic service or messengers employed by communications companies subject to the supervision and control of the Federal Communications Commission, no minor under 18 years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation more than six consecutive days in any one week, or more than 40 hours in any one week, or more than eight hours in any one day, nor shall any minor under 16 years of age be so employed, permitted, or suffered to work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. of any day, except a minor who is 14 or 15 years of age may work in a restaurant, supermarket or other retail establishment, or in any occupation not prohibited by the provisions of [this act,] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.) or by regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to [this act,] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), during the period beginning on the last day of a minor's school year and ending on Labor Day of each year until 9 p.m. of any day with written permission from a parent or legal guardian, and except a minor who is 14 or 15 years of age may be employed as a little league umpire for little leagues chartered by Little League Baseball, Incorporated, until 9 p.m. of any day with written permission from a parent or legal guardian; nor shall any minor between 16 and 18 years of age be so employed, permitted, or suffered to work before 6 a.m. or after 11 p.m. of any day; provided that minors between 16 and 18 years of age may be employed after 11 p.m. during any regular vacation season, and on days which do not precede a regularly scheduled school day, with a special written permit from their parents or legal guardian stating the hours they are permitted to work; provided that minors between 16 and 18 years of age may be employed in a seasonal amusement or restaurant occupation after 11 p.m. and following 12:01 a.m. of the next day, if that employment is a continuation of a workday which began before 11 p.m., either during any regular school vacation season, or on workdays which do not begin on a day which precedes a regularly scheduled school day, with a special written permit from their parents or legal guardian stating the hours they are permitted to work, except that in no case shall minors between 16 and 18 years of age be employed after 3 a.m. or before 6 a.m. on a day which precedes a regularly scheduled school day; provided, further, that minors may be employed in a concert or a theatrical performance up to 11:30 p.m.; and provided, further, that minors not less than 16 years of age and who are attending school may be employed as pinsetters, lane attendants, or busboys in public bowling alleys up to 11:30 p.m., but may not be so employed during the school term without a special written permit from [the superintendent of schools or the supervising principal, as the case may be, which permit shall state that the minor has undergone a complete physical examination by the medical inspector, and, in the opinion of the superintendent or supervising principal, may be so employed, without injury to health or interference with progress in school, such special permits to be good for a period of three months only and are revocable in the discretion of the superintendent or supervising principal. Such permit may not be renewed until satisfactory evidence has been submitted to the superintendent or supervising principal showing that the minor has had a physical examination and the minor's health is not being injured by said work] their parents or legal guardian stating the minor may be so employed; and provided, further, that minors between 16 and 18 years of age may not be employed after 10 p.m. during the regular school vacation seasons in or for a factory or in any occupation otherwise prohibited by law or by order or regulation made in pursuance of law. The hours of work of minors under 16 employed outside school hours shall not exceed three hours in any one day when school is in session and shall not exceed in any one week when school is in session the maximum number of hours permitted for that period under the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 29 U.S.C.s.201 et seq., and regulations promulgated pursuant to that federal act.

This section is not applicable to the employment of a minor between 16 and 18 years of age during the months of June, July, August or September by a summer resident camp, conference or retreat operated by a nonprofit or religious corporation or association, unless the employment is primarily general maintenance work or food service activities.

(cf: P.L.1998, c.138, s.1)

6. Section 9 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.9) is amended to read as follows:

9. Upon request, [it shall be the duty of the issuing officer to] the Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall issue to any young person between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one years [residing in his district and applying in person,] who expresses a desire to enter employment, an age certificate upon presentation of the same [proof] evidence of age as is required for the issuance of employment certificates under [this act. A young person between the said ages nonresident of the State may apply to the issuing authority of any district where such person states he intends to seek employment] section 2 of P.L. , c. (C ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The age certificate shall state the [color] race or ethnicity, name, sex, date and place of birth, residence, color of hair and eyes, height, and distinguishing facial marks, if any, and the kind of [proof] evidence of age submitted. All copies thereof shall be signed [in person] by the applicant [in the presence of the said issuing officer in whose name it is issued].

Any employer before employing a minor may require him to produce an age certificate and sign his name for comparison with the signature on the certificate. If in his judgment the signature and characteristics of the child correspond with the signature and description in the certificate, the employer, on employing the child, may require and retain the certificate during the minor's employment and shall return it to the minor upon the termination of his employment.

(cf: P.L.1940, c.153, s.9)

7. Section 15 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.15) is amended to read as follows:

15. Except as hereinafter provided as to newspaper carriers, no minor under 14 years of age may engage in any street trade, which term, for the purpose of this section shall include the selling, offering for sale, soliciting for, collecting for, displaying, or distributing any articles, goods, merchandise, commercial service, posters, circulars, newspapers or magazines or in blacking shoes on any street or other public place or from house to house. No minor under 12 years of age may be employed in agricultural pursuits.

Whenever a minor has graduated from vocational school, approved by the Commissioner of Education and is 17 years of age, the minor's diploma or certified copy thereof [and an employment certificate mailed to the employer by the issuing officer] shall be deemed a special permit to engage in those pursuits in which the minor majored in said vocational school during those hours permitted for persons 18 years of age and over.

Except as hereinafter provided as to newspaper carriers, whenever a minor under 16 years of age desires to work during such times as the schools of the district in which the minor resides are not in session in any street trade or in agricultural pursuits, the parent, guardian or other person having the custody and control of the minor may file with the [issuing officer in the school district in which the minor resides] Department of Labor and Workforce Development an application for a special permit authorizing such work. Such application shall show the exact character of the work the minor is to do, and the hours and wages and special conditions under which said work is to be performed.

If upon investigation it is found that the facts set forth in the application are true and that the work will not interfere with the minor's health or standing in school, the [issuing officer] Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall, upon presentation [to the issuing officer] of the same proof of age as is required for the issuance of an employment certificate, issue a special permit, allowing the minor to work at such times as the public schools in the district are not in session, but such work except in agricultural pursuits, and as newspaper carriers, to be otherwise subject to the maximum hours of labor provisions set for minors under 16 years of age in section 3 of [this act] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.3); provided, that nothing in [this act] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.) shall prevent newspaper carriers as defined in [this act] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), between 11 and 14 years of age, from delivering, soliciting, selling and collecting for newspapers on routes in residential neighborhoods between the hours of 6:00 o'clock in the morning and 7:00 o'clock in the evening of any day; and newspaper carriers 14 years of age and older from delivering, soliciting, selling and collecting for newspapers on routes in residential neighborhoods between the hours of 5:30 o'clock in the morning and 8:00 o'clock in the evening of any day; and provided further that no newspaper carrier under the age of 18 years shall be permitted to engage in such occupation beyond the period of time wherein the combined hours devoted to said occupation as a newspaper carrier and the hours in school shall exceed a total of 40 hours per week and not more than 8 hours in any 1 day; and provided, further, that minors engaged in agricultural pursuits may be employed no more than 10 hours per day.

Such special permit shall show the name, address, and date of birth of the minor for whom it is issued, the kind of proof of age submitted, the nature of the occupation in which the minor is to engage, and such other information as the [Commissioner of Education] Department of Labor and Workforce Development may require.

Any such special permit for work in agriculture shall be issued for a period not to exceed 6 months and shall show its date of expiration. Any person employing a minor under 16 years of age in agriculture shall obtain [such a certificate] the special permit from the minor and keep it on file during the period of the minor's employment and shall return it to the minor to whom it is issued upon termination of the minor's employment.

Upon application by the parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of a newspaper carrier as defined in [this act] P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.1 et seq.), between the ages of 11 and 18 years of age, to the publisher of any newspaper in this State and upon receiving satisfactory proof of age and a signed statement of physical fitness, such publisher may issue to such newspaper carrier a special permit on a form prescribed and approved by the [Commissioner of Education] Department of Labor and Workforce Development, whereby the newspaper carrier shall be permitted to deliver, solicit, sell and collect for newspapers outside of the newspaper carrier's school hours on residential routes, and on Sundays and during school vacations and no other employment certificate shall be required.

Such special permit shall show the name, address and date of birth of the newspaper carrier for whom it is issued, and such other information as the [Commissioner of Education] Department of Labor and Workforce Development may require.

The publisher shall forthwith mail [3 copies] a copy of such special permit to the [issuing officer as defined in section 1 of this act, one of which copies shall be forwarded to the Commissioner of Education and one copy to the Commissioner of Labor and Industry] Department of Labor and Workforce Development in such manner as may be provided by regulation [of said commissioners]. A copy of such special permit shall also be furnished by the publisher to the parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of the newspaper carrier and the publisher shall retain at all times a file copy thereof.

The special permit shall remain in full force and effect unless and until the publisher has knowledge of or is notified by the [issuing officer or the Commissioner of Labor and Industry] Department of Labor and Workforce Development that the newspaper carrier is not physically fit or that in the opinion of the [issuing officer or the Commissioner of Labor and Industry] Department of Labor and Workforce Development, engaging in the occupation as a newspaper carrier will be harmful to the newspaper carrier's education. In such case, the said special permit shall be suspended unless and until the [issuing officer] Department of Labor and Workforce Development shall revoke said notification. In the event of such notification and suspension, however, if either the parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of the newspaper carrier or the publisher shall deem such decision to be erroneous, an appeal may be made to the [Commissioner of Education] Department of Labor and Workforce Development who shall have authority to affirm, reverse or modify such decision [of the issuing officer or the Commissioner of Labor and Industry].

The publisher shall keep a record of the name, address and birth date of each newspaper carrier to whom such special permit is issued; the date said newspaper carrier commenced and ceased delivering newspapers published by said publisher together with a record of the number of newspapers sold to each newspaper carrier and a general description of the area of the route served by each newspaper carrier. Such records shall be kept on file by said publisher for a period of 2 years after the newspaper carrier has ceased delivering newspapers published by said publisher.

[The special permit shall remain in full force and effect unless and until the publisher is notified by the issuing officer or the Commissioner of Labor and Industry that the newspaper carrier is not physically fit or that the newspaper carrier's school record is such that engaging in the occupation of a newspaper carrier will be harmful to the newspaper carrier's education. In such case, however, if either the parent, guardian or other person having custody and control of the newspaper carrier or the publisher shall deem such decision to be erroneous, an appeal may be made to the Commissioner of Education who shall have authority to reverse or modify such decision of the issuing officer or the Commissioner of Labor and Industry.]

(cf: P.L.1981, c.490, s.1)

8. Section 3 of P.L.1962, c.91 (C.34:2-21.59) is amended to read as follows:

3. a. Upon application of an employer, bearing the endorsed approval of a parent or guardian of the minor a permit authorizing employment of the minor in a theatrical production may be issued if:

(a) The minor is in good health and will not likely be endangered by the working conditions of the prospective employment as certified by a currently issued statement of a licensed physician based upon a physical examination which, for minors under 8 years of age, includes a visual acuity screening if practicable;

(b) The place of employment is approved by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the period for which the permit is desired is not in excess of 3 months;

(c) The minor is not attending public school and the application is for a period other than during the school summer vacation period, that he is receiving equivalent instruction approved by the Department of Education or by the state or county of his residence if he be a nonresident of New Jersey;

(d) The proposed employment will not exceed two shows or productions in a day or a total of eight shows or productions in any week where the professional employment is reasonably separable into discrete shows or productions; that the employment will not be for more than 6 days in any week, 5 hours in any day or a total of 24 hours, including rehearsal time, in any week and that the minor will not be employed before 7:00 a.m. or after 11:30 p.m. and that school and theatrical performance time shall not exceed 8 hours in any 1 day and that the combined time spent on a set or on call and performance time shall not exceed a total of eight hours in any one day;

(e) The employment does not involve a type of prohibited performance as hereinafter defined; and

(f) The minor will be under the direct care and supervision of an adult who is a parent, guardian or a representative of the employer, named in the application, at all times during his employment or while living away from home when required as an incident of such employment.

b. A permit or certificate, as the case may be, may be issued by the [issuing officer or by the] Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development in cases involving a significant contribution to the development of the motion picture industry in the State as determined by the Motion Picture and Television Development Commission. In such cases, the commissioner shall also have the authority to alter or amend the hours of the day but not the total hours in the day during which a minor may work as set forth in paragraph (d), subsection a. of this section, if such alteration or amendment will not foreseeably impair the educational instruction, supervision, health and welfare of the minor, and such an alteration or amendment is necessary for good reasons shown by the employer. The commissioner shall set forth the terms of any alteration or amendment in the permit or certificate.

(cf: P.L.1981, c.331, s.5)

9. Section 4 of P.L.1962, c.91 (C.34:2-21.60) is amended to read as follows:

4. The [issuing officer or the] Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, pursuant to [section 3b.] subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.1962, c.91 (C.34:2-21.59), may refuse to grant a permit or certificate if, in his judgment, the best interests of the minor would be served by such refusal and he shall keep a record of such refusals, and the reasons therefor. [A refusal by the issuing officer shall not preclude a contrary decision by the commissioner.]

(cf: P.L.1981, c.331, s.6)

10. The following sections are repealed:

Section 7 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.7);

Section 8 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.8);

Section 10 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.10);

Section 11 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.11);

Section 12 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.12);

Section 13 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.13);

Section 14 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.14); and

Section 16 of P.L.1940, c.153 (C.34:2-21.16).

11. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill amends and repeals several sections of the laws governing child labor, specifically with respect to the application and issuance of employment certificates for minors.

Currently, most minors under 18 years of age are required to obtain an employment certificate as a prerequisite to engaging in gainful employment. In order to obtain the employment certificate the minor must provide documentation of the following: a promise of employment signed by the prospective employer; evidence of age showing that the minor is of the age required by the child labor laws; a statement of physical fitness, signed by a medical inspector employed by the applicable board of education; and a school record signed by the principal of the school which the minor has last attended. Under current law, upon receiving the requisite documentation, an issuing officer of the school district in which the minor resides issues the employment certificate to the minor.

This bill removes the authority of local school districts to issue employment certificates and places the authority for this function with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The bill also removes the current mandate that a minor must submit a statement of physical fitness in order to obtain an employment certificate.

Finally, the bill provides that no employment certificate, or any other permit or special permit, is required for any minor under 18 years of age who has graduated high school or has completed a course of study resulting in the minor's attainment of a certificate of high school equivalency.