The labor market is still tight and employers are having a rough time hiring. You might be tempted to hire 14- and 15-year-olds this summer to work jobs older teens and young 20-somethings traditionally work. Be careful, because the Department of Labor is watching. After a newspaper exposé on young teens working long hours in dangerous occupations, it’s beginning to crack down on child-labor-law violators.
The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the rules for minimum wages, overtime, and restrictions on child labor. States, of course, are free to enact any wage-and-hour and child-labor laws they want. But if a state enacts a law that conflicts with the FLSA by, say, allowing young teens to work longer hours or in dangerous occupations, the FLSA prevails.
Why are we reviewing these FLSA basics now? Because it seems some state legislatures have forgotten the interplay between their laws and the FLSA. And guess who loses? You, if you rely on a state law the FLSA preempts.
Between June 1 and Labor Day, 14- and 15-year-olds can work up to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week; they can’t work past 9 p.m. Bottom line: These teens can never qualify to work overtime.
The FLSA puts the burden of accurate record-keeping for all employees on you. So if your payroll system pays young teens 1.5 times their regular rate for overtime work during a week, you have a problem.
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